The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on 30 November promises to be a watershed in the renaissance of the event that has been mired in controversies resulting from a string of illogical and inexplicable decisions in recent years and is still reeling from well-founded allegations of corruption, maladministration and ineptitude amongst certain staff and Board members.
Seven of the nine elected Board positions are up for election. Both Board incumbents who were standing for re-election have been withdrawn from the ballot: Sweetname Nkibande because he was not eligible as he is not a member in good standing and Celi Makhoba for reasons unknown. Therefore it will be a CMA Board with a very different composition for the 2025 event.
There are 14 names remaining on the ballot from the original list of 21 that was announced. Each voting CMA member gets seven votes and the seven nominees with the highest number of votes will serve on the CMA Board (the five highest will be elected for a two-year term and the remaining two for a one-year term). The CMA Board votes for the Chair and Vice Chair positions.
The seven Board members will join Nontuthuko Mashimane (an iridiologist, 8 times Comrades finisher and Hollywood Athletics Club KZN committee member) and Isaac Ngwenya (a retired engineer with 21 Comrades finishes). Ngwenya has been at the centre of several controversies and allegations of corruption. Whether he remains on the Board will depend on the findings of the independent investigations into allegations of misconduct that the interim Board is due to report back on.
The election of seven Board members is the penultimate item on what is a long agenda so voting CMA Members are warned to be ready for a long day as longwinded speeches and delaying tactics relying on attrition to reduce the number of voting members has been a feature of CMA AGMs in the past and KwaZulu Natal Athletics (KZNA) meetings recently.
Below is a very short, categorised summary of each candidate’s pedigree and skill set. This article from Modern Athlete provides an excellent more detailed summary (and I would encourage all voting CMA members to read it thoroughly before making your choices): https://www.modernathlete.co.za/2024/11/do-your-part-vote-for-your-next-cma-board/
The submitted CVs for all 21 original nominees is attached below:
Current Interim Board Members
Patricia Freeman 68 (31 Comrades / joint 3rd most finishes for females): Corporate banking, specialising in financial admin, sales, marketing, and consulting; Club Manager at Stella Sports Club; CMA CSI Committee Chair; Elected to Board in 2019; Was not elected onto Board at 2023 AGM but was later coopted onto the Board.
Grant Matkovich 45 (11 Comrades): Chiropractic Doctor; Former CMA International Hospitality Portfolio Convener; Has volunteered in several other Comrades roles; Current Chair of Stella Athletic Club; Coopted to interim Board in August 2024.
Busani Ndlovu 52 (3 Comrades): Chartered Accountant; Former CEO and CFO; Currently runs a private consulting firm; Listed skills – accounting and auditing; Coopted to interim Board in August 2024.
Former Board Members
Leslie Burnard 70 (2 Comrades): Former CMA Vice Chair and Chair of its Finance Committee; Former Collegians Harriers Chair; Chartered Accountant; Listed skills – HR, strategic planning, risk management and race organisation.
Mqondisi Ngcobo 47 (6 Comrades): Former CMA Chair; Senior Manager in the KZN Legislature; Listed skills – organisational and administrative skills, race organisation.
Comrades Collective
This is a group* that have put forward candidates with a diverse portfolio of skills and have voluntarily undergone full integrity checks (which is aligned with World Athletics protocols_. The group describe themselves as “a diverse alliance of skilled, qualified and experienced individuals united by a shared goal: to steer the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) towards a new era of professionalism, strategic and transparent governance.”
* Both Burnard and Ngcobo are also officially part of the Collective but I have chosen to classify them separately as former Board members.
Grahame Gertsch 67 (4 Comrades): Retired legal professional; Current entrepreneur and restaurateur; Former Phobians Athletic Club Chair; Listed skills – commercial and sports law, event management, community engagement and race organisation.
Alan David Gray 73 (12 Comrades): Retired electrical engineer; Former group director overseeing operations in multiple countries; Listed skills – HR, industrial relations, accounting and race organisation.
Mark Leathers 40 (1 Comrades): Attorney working with large corporate clients; Listed skills – corporate governance, commercial law, dispute resolution and business security; Has represented CMA Members pro bono.
Brenda Marolen 56 (0 Comrades but 3 starts*): Independent HR and CSI consultant; CMA ROC Member and 2024 Winners Circle Convenor; Founder and Chair of Urithi Athletic Club; former Chair Manoni Running Club; 12 years in various athletics administration roles; Listed skills – HR, business operations, corporate social investment, finance and race organising.
* Personal note: No disrespect is meant from this stat. In fact the opposite is true, I have massive respect for anyone who keeps trying and I believe that the attempts will provide empathy for the ‘back of the pack’ entrants that many others will not have.
Willie Mtolo 60 (8 Comrades including 5 Golds): Former elite runner (including New York Marathon winner); Founded the Willie Mtolo Training Academy; Current coach of elite athletes.
Carel Nolte 50 (3 Comrades): Chief Marketing Officer of EasyEquities and founder of CN&CO Brand Consultancy; Founded Born2Run Athletic Club; Listed skills – Marketing, HR, public relations, fundraising and financial services.
Rory Steyn 61 (12 Comrades): Former team leader of Nelson Mandela’s personal protection unit; Co-founder of NSA Global Security Consultants (including security planning for six Olympic Games and 2010 FIFA World Cup); Listed skills – security and event management.
Independents
Solomon Mbatha 69 (0 Comrades): Retired Head Master, teacher, theologian and financial manager. Community Marshal representative; Listed skills – marketing, organising, administrating, conflict management and strategising.
Philemon Bhekumuzi Nkosi 48 (3 Comrades): Chemical Engineer; General Manager in agro-processing sector; Certified Director; Deputy Chair of Chillies Running Club – KZN.
Who Do I Vote For? Considerations & Observations
This is the longest list of Board nominations in the history of the CMA, it is also arguably the strongest. The future of the oldest and greatest ultra marathon on the planet will rest on their shoulders.
A diverse Board is a strong Board. In South Africa we have a tendency to default to race when thinking of diversity, which is just one aspect. However, let’s start there.
Making calculated guesses based on the names and information within the CVs (as I do not know all the nominees), we have 8 white, 6 black and no Indian or coloured candidates.
However, the gender split is perhaps the most alarming with just two female nominees (Brenda Marolen and Pat Freeman).
Age wise, we have 4 veterans, 3 masters, 5 grandmasters and 2 great grandmasters. Mark Leathers is the youngest candidate at 40 and Alan Gray the oldest at 73.
In terms of Comrades run, four nominees have earned a Green Number for ten finishes (Pat Freeman, Grant Matkovich, Alan Gray and Rory Steyn) whilst Willie Mtolo earned a ‘short-cut’ Green Number with five Golds. The only person on the list never to have started Comrades is Solomon Mbatha from the Community Marshals.
Whilst I do not think that having run Comrades is a prerequisite for being on the Board, I would certainly carefully scrutinise those that haven’t. Zinhle Sokhela and the ‘vanillagate’ scandal provide a recent cautionary tale about having non-runners on the Board.
I also think that ‘diversity of Comrades finish times’ is important. I have often found that those who finish before the traffic gets bad battle to empathise or understand the mindset and struggles of those who finish after sunset.
A final consideration is whether those on the interim Board and former Board members are tainted by association with the corruption, maladministration and incompetence of other Board members and staff. My view is that all the candidates on the ballot are passionate about Comrades and have the best interests of the race at heart.
Whilst I had some grave concerns about some of the names on the original list of 21 candidates, there are no interim or former Board members that would raise any red flags for me. Whether they did a good enough job to upgrade their coopted positions or have done a good enough job be re-elected is for the CMA membership to decide.
The True Test
To my knowledge, no sitting Board or members thereof have actively promoted CMA membership outside of their own social circle and clique. In fact, when former ROM Ash Ashworth (and her husband David) did start to promote membership on social media and by having QR codes at Comrades registration, CMA Board Member and KZNA President Steve Mkasi went so far as to suggest it was a ‘coup’ and in a panic move illegally tried to remove non-KZN residents CMA voting rights.
The true test of the new Board will be if they actively continue to promote and grow CMA membership so that the next generation of Comrades leaders have the opportunity to ensure that Comrades survives and thrives in the 21st century.
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Very well composed coherent unbiased and well researched article.
Heaven knows how long it took you to put it all together.
I just hope that sanity prevails on Election Day and a committee untainted by any form of scandal is appointed.