On the 18th of June Comrades Board member Zinhle Sokhela posted a blatantly racist message to the official Comrades Corporate Governance WhatsApp group. Sokhela was immediately asked to resign from the Board but requested the opportunity to ‘go away and think about it’. She thought about it, had a few shouting matches with other Board members and said ‘no thanks I’m staying put’. She was apparently more concerned with who had reported her indiscretion than the indiscretion itself.
A special Board meeting was held a week later on Tuesday 25 June. Once again, the request for a resignation for bringing Comrades into disrepute was ignored. The only concession was a mumbled, half-hearted apology. However, no public apology has been made nor has she apologised to Ann Ashworth who name she appears to have baselessly smeared.
Whilst I have been assured by certain Board members that the matter is being dealt with and will not be swept under the carpet, after my experiences with the Comrades cutoff chaos of 2023 and the Two Oceans Board blatantly lying about their own cutoff drama earlier this year, you can understand my scepticism.
[Note: Subsequent to writing the article, Sokhela has been suspended by the Board. The original press release lamented that “the Constitution of the CMA does not empower the Board to remove a Board member.” However, like Eskom before the elections, the Board suddenly found the power after various people pointed out that “Clause 11 empowers the Board to suspend any member pending a disciplinary process.”]
Sokhela appears to have been sent to the naughty corner when she should have been expelled – and some of her school chums are giggling away behind the headmaster’s back plotting their next malevolent escapade. There is no way Sokhela would be sticking around unless she felt that she has the support of some other members of the Board.
According to sources, Sokhela is hanging around as she believes she is next in line for the Chair position. Before this year’s event she was heard telling staff members, “I am not the Chair yet but…”. Sokhela currently heads up, cue the drumroll of irony, the Corporate Governance Portfolio at Comrades and is therefore responsible for Board ethics (you really cannot make this stuff up).
Although she had no distance running participation background nor any prior experience with athletics administration, Sokhela was first co-opted onto the Comrades Board in 2016 to address identified skills gaps within the organisation. The skills Sokhela brought to the table where “corporate governance and risk management” from her business background as the owner of the BP petrol station at the Cascades Centre in Pietermaritzburg.
Vanillagate was not Sokhela’s first foray of racism at this year’s Comrades. On 25 May 2024, while assisting with route marking, Sokhela (in Zulu) allegedly encouraged other volunteers to rise up, take action and ensure the whites are removed from the CMA Board. This was reported by members of the Race Organizing Committee (ROC) who were disturbed by what they heard.
It appears that playing the race card is a popular pastime amongst Board members. At the CMA Board Meeting held on 24 February 2024, Board members Isaac Ngwenya and Celi Makhoba criticised Ashworth for recruiting too many “white” volunteers to assist on the Race Organising Committee (it should be noted that these are volunteers – people giving up their free time to assist with Comrades preparation). Ngwenya went so far as to suggest that Ashworth was trying to “return the CMA to the era of Apartheid.”
On race day, Sokhela put herself in the public eye by ingratiating herself on the finish line. Whilst the ‘lazy blazer culture’ of maximising TV camera time at the finish line instead of working hard behind the scenes has been met with scorn and derision from several commentators, this did not deter Sokhela. Her sunhat and accompanying scowl were as constant as the sight of elated finishers grabbing their medals.
Furthermore, I am looking into allegations that Sokhela, together with another Board members and a Comrades staff member, racked up an R8,000 liquor bill one night during the expo (presumably on the Comrades credit card) and that she was inebriated on the finish line. According to one person who shared a table with her at a recent Comrades function, “Sokhela wasn’t shy to take a free drink whenever the waiter came around and she made sure that she ordered the expensive stuff.”
All evidence points towards some Board members being appointed on the back of “bought votes” which relate back to the community race day marshals. At the 2023 Comrades AGM about half of the 130 voting members are estimated to have been bussed in. I have several eyewitness accounts that the bussed in voters were totally disinterested, had no idea what was going on, had slips of paper telling them who to vote for and were just waiting for the free food.
If you are happy with non-running racists representing your interests at Comrades no further action is needed. If you’d prefer to see a Board that represents the interests of all runners instead of focussing on their self-interest then, sign up for as a member of the CMA before 4:30pm this Sunday here: https://memberships.comrades.com/application
I would encourage everyone to join regardless of your location so that you can have a say in the future of the greatest ultra marathon on the planet. There is likely to be a special GM called to propose allowing remote attendance and voting for future AGM. This requires two thirds of the attendees to approve and, if passed, will allow runners from all corners of the country and the world to have a say in how our race is run.
Either that or we’ll have to set up a ‘Race Committee’ on the Race Committee.
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Stuart Mann, Vat hom fluffy! You are doing excellent work. The Comrades of WW1 would be disgusted, as we all are. Racism is not a 1-way street.
Thank you for being a voice about what is going on at Comrades Board. My Comrades journey started in 2000, I use to hand out pamphlets at races for Don Oliver a previous Comrades Coach. Don was well known back in the day for his regular Rockies Comrades Panel Talks which helped many of us earn our Medals.
In 2001 I signed up for my first Comrades, under the guidance of my dad and Don as Coach. It’s amazing to see how the race has changed since then.
I was involved with Don’s Comrades panel talks for 10+ years; the highlight talk was when the Comrades chairman would come to share what we can except come race day. I learned so much about this race from the times I listened to people like Barry Varty the Comrades Historian about why this race is run at these talks.
I have got to experience the highs and lows of this great race. This year I completed my 16th on my way to earning my double green. I love seeing so many novices on the road, and the back-to-back runners, and then the yellow numbers and I try to chat to as many people as possible, there are so many great stories that people share. I am always encouraging runners who haven’t run it to come and experience it.
Its very disheartening to hear all the allegations and shenanigans with certain board members. It saddens me to read the allegation of spending R8000 on booze yet there are so many people who barley scrape together the money to get to the start of comrades. If this is the case and proved to be true, this board member should be made to pay back the money. Comrades must not be seen as a free ride for people who know nothing about running.
Comrades is not about your race, your political beliefs or what job you do. We are all equals on this day with a common purpose of getting to the finish before the final gun. Comrades unites us, I say the president of the country should come and run Comrades. If the politicians could put aside their differences and work together for a common goal just think of the amazing things that could be achieved.
Without us the runner there would be no Comrades, and board members needs to realize that Comrades is not a means for their own personal gain. I truly hope that enough of us will sign up for CMA so we can have a voice and ensure that safeguards are put in place to protect the future of this amazing race.
It is wholly evident that no corporate governance principles are practised at KZNA or else that would filter through to CMA where the President of KZNA is a Board Member. The entire structure in athletics in KZN needs toi be restructured or else the sufferers will be the 120+ clubs and the 2.9m young kids who are not exposed to the variety of disciplines offered by Track and Field, Road & X-country.
I’m starting to believe that the whole CMA committee is tainted from a racist, corp governance and ethical perspective. May very well be time to disband the Board and start from scratch. I’m starting to get too embarrassed to tell people that I run this race.
With a face like that, she could turn a bottle of fresh milk sour.
What a woman, she must have the job, because she needs to eat (and drink it would seem)