World Marathon Meltdown: Trouble Brewing at Cape Town Marathon?

It is an open secret that relations between the Cape Town Marathon (CTM) organisers and Athletics South Africa (ASA) / Western Province Athletics (WPA) have deteriorated to the extent that lawyers need to be present at every meeting. Personally, I view a fight between CTM and ASA as a bit like watching England and Australia playing rugby – it a battle of arrogance versus ineptitude and the best you can do is to support the referee.

I received the following lawyer’s letter sent on behalf of ASA and WPA from a confidential source as well as the reply from David Higgs, who I understand to be CTM and Faces’ CEO Clark Gardner’s attorney. The letter is a complaint of decorum about “breach of protocol” that ASA and WPA officials were not invited to the event as is customary.

Whilst some might view it as petty, it highlights the extent to which the relationship between CTM and ASA / WPA has declined. This is the equivalent of not inviting your brother to your wedding.

After the Cape Town Marathon was relaunched in 2014, WPA appointed Asem Running (Pty) Ltd (ASEM), a private company, owned by Francois Pienaar and Elana Meyer to manage the event with the goal of obtaining Abbott World Marathon Major (AWMM) status. The partnership would enable WPA to benefit and provide a rich source of revenue to enhance the sport for its members.

The initial agreement between WPA and ASEM was to run for a period of 10 years but in 2018 the contract was extended until 2034 and then in 2021 it was further extended until 2051. There are currently some unanswered questions about the legality of these extensions and whether WPA board members received payments for pushing the contract extensions through (amongst other irregularities).

Pienaar and Meyer sold their interest in ASEM to Faces, a company headed by Clark Gardner and ASEM was renamed as CPT Marathon (Pty) Ltd, a private profit-making company. The race grew exponentially and became the first South African standard marathon to have more than 10,000 finishers in 2023. It is also the first marathon in Africa to become a candidate to be included in the Abbott World Marathon Majors series.

However, there is a lot of discontent with the WPA ranks because, despite the massive growth, success and commercialisation of the event, WPA and its athletes claim to have seen very little financial benefit from the partnership.

The current spat seems to centre around broadcasting rights for the event. In terms of the ASA constitution, which governs all athletics events in South Africa, all commercial and broadcasting rights for athletics events on the ASA calendar are held by ASA. In the past all broadcasting rights payments from SABC and SuperSport have gone directly into the ASA coffers.

Notably, the legality of this ‘monopoly’ term within the ASA constitution has recently been challenged by both CTM and Comrades on slightly different grounds. However, in the case of Comrades they have managed to find an amicable agreement for the 2026 event where all parties benefit, unlike CTM who have created an impasse.

There are various media announcements online that InFront media acquired a stake in the CTM all the way back in 2021. This foreign media house is therefore able to leverage the international media rights without any benefit coming to ASA, WPA or the local running community – and this is one of the major sticking points for ASA. It is also understood that ASA has repeatedly requested copies of the broadcasting contracts that CTM has signed but this has been denied by CTM on “confidentiality grounds.”

I have also seen a draft letter from ASA addressed to various parties including AWMM entitled, “Withdrawal Of Endorsement of the Cape Town Marathon”. The letter includes some damning allegations of fraud. I have been asked by a confidential source not to release this document at present but the allegations include that:

• ASA have uncovered prima facie evidence of fraud relating to the agreements concluded by WPA with ASEM / CTM.
• An individual on the WPA board (known to the author) surreptitiously, illegally and irregularly ceded ASA’s broadcasting rights to ASEM / CTM without getting approval or informing anyone.
• One of the witnesses to this agreement has already been jailed for fraud.
• A letter sent to World Athletics endorsing the 2026 CTM event was forged.

It is noteworthy that Terrence Magogodela, who has been the acting CEO of Athletics South Africa (ASA) since 2020, was implicated in a multimillion-rand National Lotteries Commission (NLC) grant scandal. Investigations revealed that he submitted forged funding documents claiming to be the project coordinator for “Inqaba Yokulinda” and fraudulently diverted R400,000 of Lotto funds intended for a Northern Cape athletics track to purchase a Gauteng property.

Under duress after a preservation order on his Gauteng home by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), Magogodela eventually repaid the money. The SIU submitted a docket to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) recommending his criminal prosecution for lottery corruption but it is not known whether any further action was taken.

The current Athletics South Africa (ASA) President, James Moloi, was suspended in October 2025 following a South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) forensic investigation into his irregular use of the federation’s official credit card. The audit revealed that he allegedly misused thousands of rands on personal expenses, including purchases at taverns, liquor stores and clothing outlets.

When parents go through an acrimonious divorce, it’s the children that suffer. Sadly, unless a resolution is found for this squabble, it looks like the runners are going to suffer the fallout.

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