Silence Please: Relentless Louw blows never let Mkhululi Jack off

Earlier this year I ran the Buffs Marathon and was pleased to see Mkhululi Jack, affectionately known as MJ, along the route. MJ was leading his customary bus. I am not big on running in buses but I am big fan of MJ and the work he does. In a world of influencers, MJ is a contributor.

MJ takes the time to write up detailed route reviews and pacing plans and shares them on Facebook. There is a detailed route review of almost every race in the East London and Border region courtesy of MJ.

There are some pacers who make it all about themselves but with MJ it is all about the journey and the passengers who join for the ride to the finish. He’s a humble guy who naturally attracts a large crowd at every race and is one of the most well-known and respected runners in the Eastern Cape.

Before going into bat for someone, I want to make sure I know who I am dealing with. I therefore did a bit of a background check with some well-known figures in Border Athletics. The worst that anyone could say about MJ was that one year he was supposed to be pacing the Border Masters Marathon but ran the Cape Town Marathon instead and didn’t tell anyone. In short, MJ is a good, solid human and an asset to the running community.

At Buffs, MJ was driving a 4h30 bus and, as I was running at a similar pace (albeit with plenty of stop-starting for photos), we passed each other and chatted several times. At the finish there was a lovely group shot taken.

However, when looking at the results the next day, MJ was mysteriously missing. I noticed he was down at the bottom, on the DQ discards pile. I asked him, “What happened?”

MJ told me that he can run free in the rest of the country but gets disqualified at every Border race because he runs with a speaker on his back. “A speaker on your back? What’s wrong with that?” I asked. Nothing is wrong with that everywhere else in South Africa. He has run with his speaker in every other province without incident. Perhaps Border referees are worried that music might lead to dancing? With town name changes all the rage these days, maybe Border Athletics (BORA) should campaign to get East London changed to Bomont and go Footloose and music free.

In disbelief, I asked MJ to provide some more details about the situation. He told me at Buffs he was not given any explanation and no referee told him he was disqualified or had the right to appeal. This directly contravenes BORA’s own disciplinary code as per the document below from Isobel Louw, Chairperson of the BORA Technical Officials.  

MJ assumed this was another disqualification because of the speaker on his back but he is philosophical about it, “I keep quiet and continue to love running and its people. My assumption is that it is my music – even if they don’t hear it playing – if they see the speaker on my back, that’s a disqualification and I don’t contest it.”

He continues, “It is sad but hasn’t discouraged me to do what I love. My region [BORA] is the only that has a route review on each race [that MJ has personally written] but I can tell you, such things are not even appreciated by a mere ‘Thank You’. As long as I can help one or two individuals, I’ll continue doing what I’m doing. I sleep peacefully at night.”

It seems to be Isabel Louw, BORAs chief technical official, who has a particular issue with MJ and his music. He mentioned that he sometimes escapes a DQ if she’s not on duty but that there’s been occasions when Louw would, “Literally accompany my bus from start to finish – she can’t even hide it. Out of respect, I would switch off the music when she appears in front of us or on the side but that is not helping. When she is not on the race, I don’t get disqualified at all, nothing.”

There was one recent occasion when MJ was told of his disqualification but even this was done in very questionable fashion, “During the Chillies race, Isobel went to the finish line announcer and made the announcer say ‘Mkhululi Jack is disqualified!’ When I confronted the announcer, she said she was told by Isobel to make such an announcement. Maybe shouting of a number would have been fine, but Isobel was making a point to try and embarrass me in public.”

MJ still gets his medals in Border, just not an official finish, “Last year they tried to deny me a medal but the passengers literally fought with that. Now they [BORA referees] don’t care if I get a medal, they just remove me from the results. I just pay my entry knowing I won’t have the results.”

On the relentless targeting MJ said, “It is sad, bad victimization. I’ve never complained, I just continued. I call it hate, it’s not enforcing the rule per se but dealing with me and what I do. I really don’t understand their thought processes.”

However, there is one impact to MJ and that is missing out a permanent number at Buffs this year, “It was supposed to be on my 10th Buffs this year but the constant disqualification messed up that achievement, maybe that’s why I am raising it this year.”

After hearing from MJ, it’s time for us to study the rule book (something I wish many race referees would do more often).

The “no headphones” rule was originally introduced by World Athletics (WA). to prevent in-competition coaching of athletes. The original IAAF Rule 144.3(c) is now WA Technical Rule 6.3.2 under the heading “Assistance not allowed”. The overarching Rule 6.3 reads as follows. “For the purpose of this Rule, the following examples shall be considered assistance, and are therefore not allowed:” with stipulation 6.3.2 specifying, “Possession or use of video recorders, radios, CD, radio transmitters, mobile phone or similar devices in the competition area.” The rule is clearly meant for elite athletes in competition (primarily at track and field events) to prevent unfair assistance by their coaches.

Interestingly, the WA rules to which our officials cling like an anxious child to its doodoo make no actual mention of “no headphones” anywhere in the entire rulebook. The closest one might get is 6.3.3 stipulating, “The use of any technology or appliance that provides the user with an advantage which they would not have obtained using the equipment specified in, or permitted by, the Rules.” Once again, this is not about safety but elite athletes in competition getting an unfair advantage using technology.

That being said, for road running in particular, the “no headphones” rule has evolved into a safety issue when running on open roads. Whilst there is no rule preventing headphones from being used anywhere in WA rules, there is the upfront statement under section 1 “General” of WA’s Technical Rules that,

“With respect to mass participation Running and Race Walking Events, race organisers are advised to emphasise in the information provided to all participants the rules and procedures that will apply to the various categories, especially in relation to safety considerations, particularly when all or part of the race is not closed to traffic. This may for example allow athletes (other than those competing in the elite or other categories to whom Rule 6.3 of the Technical Rules would apply) to use head or earphones when they are running on a closed course but prohibit their use (or at least recommend against it) for the slower runners when the course is open to traffic.”

Interestingly this WA guideline is explicitly stating that if you are not an elite athlete or competing for category prizes, headphones are allowed on closed courses but it is recommended that they are prohibited for safety reasons when on open roads.

I don’t think anyone would disagree that having headphones playing loud music would be unsafe on an open road in a mass participation event. No argument from me there. Whether wearing bone conducting earphones, one earphone or headphones on a completely closed course should result in a disqualification is much more debatable. But we digress.

Let’s take a look at the ASA rulebook which all administrators will proudly tell you is based on the WA rules.

Rather bizarrely we have the same “no headphones” rule appearing twice in the 176-page convoluted mess that is the ASA rulebook. Under section 8 “Safety on the Road” and 34.10 “Safety”, we have rules 8.7 and 34.10.6 which state, “For safety reasons the use of personal music players or other devices with headphones is not allowed. Any person using such device shall not be eligible for individual or team prizes and may be disqualified without a warning.”

There is one more reference under “Trail Running” section 37.4 “Safety” rule 37.4.4 which reads, “For safety reasons the use of personal music players with headphones during trail races is not allowed. Persons using them in contravention of IAAF Rule 144.3b will not be eligible for performance prizes and may be disqualified if they fail to obey a reasonable instruction from a race official.”

Now this is a particularly bizarre rule because there is no WA rule mentioning headphones at trails, the IAAF Rule 144.3b was replaced with the aforementioned WA Rule 6.3.3 many years ago and regardless of any of that it is completely unclear what the safety issue would be running with headphones on the trails.

But once again, I am starting to digress so let’s pull it back to BORA referees and their successful attempts to make the most bizarre interpretation of the made up South African “no headphones” rule humanly possible.

These geniuses have interpreted it as “For safety reasons the use of personal music players [full stop; beginning of new rule] or other devices with headphones is not allowed.” So basically any personal music player is a problem in the Border region and “other devices with headphones” is a completely separate thing altogether.

It is at this point in the article that I should point out that Isobel Louw is a former schoolteacher. I just hope she never taught comprehension. I expect it’s more likely she was a librarian considering her predilection for silence.

Now I could maybe understand if someone was playing music so loud that they could not hear traffic or instructions from a marshal but that’s definitely not the case here. MJ’s music was not loud (in fact I did not even notice it during Buffs). They also seem to only target MJ for playing music. There were at least two other people I noted playing music at Buffs. Both happened to be white ladies and they still have a valid result. [And just to be clear here, at no stage during any interaction with MJ did he play the race card or even intimate at anything racial – the observation is mine alone.]

We are now left with two options when it comes to BORA race referees – either they are stupid or they are stupid and vindictive. I am leaning towards the second option.

But I like to check my assumptions before going public with them so I sent the below set of questions to Isobel Louw.

I received the following reply:

“Dear Stuart,

As a portfolio holder for Technical officials on the Border Athletics Board, I refer your questions to our President, Mr Sicelo Pongoma.

Regards

Isobel”

This was followed later that day with, “Please forward your request formally to:  borderathletics@gmail.com or office@borderathletics.co.za”

I duly sent my questions on:

“As per Isobel’s request I am forwarding these questions onto you. I am planning on publishing the article early in the week.

It should be noted that I have just got back from running a marathon in the Free State. All the buses had music, none were disqualified.

Regards,

Stuart”

To which the President responded:

“Good day Stuart

The Border Athletics federation will not be in a position to respond on the disqualification of an individual athlete as these reasons were provided to all the disqualified athletes and as BORA affiliated club for 2025, Rainbow United Sports Club has the right and is aware of the avenues for submitting a complaint to the federation.

Kindly refer to the 2026 Buffs Marathon Race Rules, specifically No. 16 regarding the application of the rule applied in the race.

Yours in athletics

Sicelo Pongoma

President

Border Athletics”

Now I am sometimes accused by the friends and family of those doing stupid or illegal things of being ‘unfair’ so I thought I’d provide one last opportunity to the BORA bullies to explain themselves:

“Thanks for your email Sicelo,

You have responded to one question but there are several others below. With regards the disqualifications I would ask for categorisations of disqualifications and the reason thereof. There should be no reason not to provide this information and failure to do so has the distinct appearance of a “cover up”.

In addition:

• I would appreciate an explanation on the reason for the “external music systems are NOT allowed” rule that is only being applied in the Border Athletics region. If there are meeting minutes or something similar where this was discussed and approved I would also appreciate that.
• I would also like to clarify who was the driver, if anyone, for this rule. i.e. is Isobel “just following orders from above” or is this application of the earphones rule driven by the technical officials?
• I have heard Mkhululi Jack’s side of the story. I have also asked around to various stakeholders about the character of Mkhululi Jack and the worst that has been said of him is that he was supposed to pace at the Border Masters Marathon one year, did not pitch and did not tell anyone that he’d got a better offer and paced at Cape Town Marathon instead. Without hearing your / Isobel’s side of the story it appears that a prominent and popular recreational runner is being victimised by Border Athletics. Happy to be convinced that I am wrong on this count and I am giving you every opportunity to provide a counter narrative.

Regards,

Stuart”

President Pongoma knew he was well out his depth replying with facts or arguing points of logic. Therefore he called our conversation to a close with:

“Good day Stuart 

Border Athletics federation will not be responding any further regarding this matter and you can proceed without our input. All affected athletes are aware of the reasons for their disqualification. 

BORA clubs are aware of the reasons and rationale for not allowing speakers on National and Regional Roads as we are using open-roads and we have had a fatality on the same N6 in 2023 (an experienced athlete being hit by a bus during Washie 100 Miler). Even our neighbours EPA have banned the use of speakers & earphones in their road races so this is not a strictly BORA rule.”

The mention of the athlete who died during the Washie appears completely spurious. There was no mention that music of any kind was a factor in this incident and the tragedy was certainly not caused because the deceased was running with a speaker.

I did also check with a senior EPA official who confirmed that they only apply the “no earphones” rule and that the playing of music from speakers at an acceptable level will not attract any attention from the referees, “Our rule is on headsets and earphones. Safety first.”

I would refer back to this being first and foremost a safety rule. If you are a referee and feel that a participant is running unsafely with earphones, headsets or a loudspeaker and you do not immediately intervene to alleviate the unsafe condition, then surely you are being negligent? Surely, allowing someone to run to the end of the marathon and then only disqualifying them for running with earphones or an allegedly unsafe speaker means that you would not be doing your job as a race referee?

At this stage it’s a pissing contest between MJ and BORA. MJ is quietly minding his own business and not bothering anyone but BORA are pissing with their pants on. Unfortunately BORA decided to escalate matters and go full Number 2.

On 31 March, MJ received a “Written Warning” from Keith Blanket, Coordinator: Disciplinary Committee, “for the Facebook post of Sunday 1 March 2026 wherein he is accusing the Border Athletics provincial federation and it’s Technical Officials of unfair treatment and discriminated against with regards to his disqualification for the use of a music device (i.e. speaker) during the 2026 Buffs Marathon on the same day against Athletics South Africa (ASA) Rule 34.10.6 and 2026 Buffs Marathon Race Rule No. 16.”

This is your standard “bringing the organisation into dispute” excuse for a shakedown that is commonly used by those with fragile egos who can’t deal with valid criticism or freedom of expression.

The letter concludes, “The proposed BORA sanction for Mr Mkhululi Jack is a Written Warning valid for the rest of the 2026 athletics season ending 31 December 2026 for Mr Mkhululi Jack to not write negative, unproven and accusatory public comments about Border Athletics and utilize the available avenues to lodge a complaint against any member of the federation, officials and stakeholders of BORA.”

This is the only post MJ made on 1 March. Not really much for anyone to get upset about in my opinion.

All goes quiet for a bit. MJ’s article sits on my backlog and other more time critical articles get attention. Then all of sudden and out of the blue – and with no new charges or allegations – MJ receives a “Attendance to Disciplinary Hearing” on 8 May. The hearing is scheduled for 16 May.

MJ provides a polite and detailed response on 11 May. In it he lists a detailed breakdown of his upcoming travel and other commitments. Based on his itinerary, his first available weekend is 23-24 June which he requests as an alternate option to the short notice 16 May date. As this matter has lain dormant for over two months it cannot be considered urgent.

He also provides a detailed account of events, context thereof and disputes the validity of the process. His mistake is to rely on facts and logic in his argument. This is a losing strategy when dealing with Border Athletics.

MJ does not hear from anyone in the BORA office until 21 May when he receives the terse, “I hope this finds you well. Find attached notice of suspension for Mr Mkhululi Jack from Border Athletics/ASA Activities from the 01 June 2026- 31 December 2026. For any enquiries contact the office.”

MJ had 5 days from receiving the notice to dispute the suspension. He has done so and that is where we now sit. MJ would prefer not to have to move provinces so that he can continuing running and contributing to the community. If there is someone of sound mind in the Border region who can intervene or a lawyer who is willing to provide him with some pro bono assistance, please get in touch.

VIEW MORE: Thoughts on playing music during a race – https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1bf3hNv2hp/

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