Earlier this week, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) received a cease-and-desist letter from KZNA courtesy of Deneys attorneys. This is not a cheap exercise and would cost KZNA an estimated R5,000 (excluding VAT). This is money that is being spent on frivolous legal ego trips rather than the athletes that KZNA are supposed to represent.
Steve Mkasi, president of KZNA, has already spent (most would say wasted) in the region of R500,000 on another seemingly fruitless legal venture when he tried to enact a “locals only” CMA Membership ruling as part of his apparent attempts to capture Comrades in 2024. Mkasi and KZNA have already been given three High Court smackdowns relating to this matter and the final hearing is due to be heard on 22 July and the ruling should follow shortly thereafter. It is quite likely that a costs order will be granted against KZNA which would possibly bankrupt them.
According to the KZNA constitution, expenditure of over R200,000 requires full council approval but this has not been obtained or even asked for by Mkasi. For someone who insists on being a stickler for the rules when it comes to CMA bowing down to KZNA, Mkasi is very selective as to when the same rules should apply to him.
READ MORE: Further examples of Mkasi flagrantly flouting his own constitution can be found within this article: https://runningmann.co.za/2024/11/07/constitution-flouted-more-bad-debts-on-the-way-for-kzna/
This is also not the first time Steve Mkasi has threatened to cancel Comrades. After the High Court Application on 14 August 2024 in which the judge ruled in favour of CMA Members against KZNA to allow non-KZN residents to speak and vote at the CMA Special General Meeting, Mkasi told attorney Mark Leathers (now CMA Chairperson), “If these are the games you want to play and not be subject to the authority of ASA or KZNA, then the race next year will not happen.”
Over the years, KZNA has been like an abusive spouse to the Comrades Marathon. If KZNA has added any value to the Comrades Marathon in recent years it has yet to be identified. The only service that they offer is a “mafia protection racket” extortion scheme – essentially the grift is, “We’ll allow you to continue operating as long as we eat for free and you pay us 10% of your entry fees.”
For your viewing pleasure, the KZNA’s cease-and-desist letter as well as the CMA’s reply and a letter to Athletics South Africa are provided below.
As I have limited capacity and want to keep this article as short and to the point as possible, I’d refer you to this excellent piece of journalism by David Isaacson from The Times for further context and independent argument. Suffice to say that Steve Mkasi would be throwing worse money after bad should they attempt to pursue formal litigation.
Another fan of Isaacson’s article was CMA Chairperson, Mark Leathers, who commented on the article and lawyer’s letter on the CMA Members WhatsApp group, “All unfounded nonsense and more sabre rattling by KZNA. Zero chance they even get out the gate… David [Isaacson] has included all the salient points from our reply to the KZNA attorneys, engaged by them for who knows what reason, wasting even more money from KZN clubs. All CMA wants to do is work with these federations, as partners, for the good of the sport… a very close relationship is sought, just not the abusive one they are used to from the past.”
I would also remind KZNA that they would need formal council approval in order to take this matter to court as this would definitely exceed the R200,000 threshold. KZNA clubs might do well to call Steve Mkasi to account before he goes M-kami-kasi on their finances with another unwinnable court case.
Mkasi and KZNA are refusing to acknowledge the confirmed ASA date assigned to Comrades and that “CMA’s application to host the 2027 Comrades Marathon remains under consideration by KZNA”. This is essentially a hostage situation with no hostage. Mkasi is threatening to shoot himself in the foot if he doesn’t get his way.
When it comes to KZNA there are normally several “you can’t make this shit up moments” and, true to form, the “you can’t make this shit up moment” for July is that, whilst decrying Comrades announcing their 2027 date, Mkasi has already announced the 2027 race date and had even opened entries for his own race, the Durban International Marathon (DIM). All associations are equal but some associations are more equal than others in the Autocratic Republic of Mkasistan.
DIM is organized by Mkasi’s running club, Phuma AC. Steve Mkasi, acting on behalf of his athletics club Phuma AC, still owes KZNA approximately R400,000 after taking KZNA to court and losing on multiple occasions (before he became President of KZNA). Calls to pay back the money remain unanswered.
When the irony of the DIM marathon also advertising their race date (and even having entries open) was pointed out to Mkasi on the United Athletes Forum WhatsApp group by Norrie Williamson, Mkasi went silent for 45 minutes and then responded by simply sharing a link. Caught with his pants down, Mkasi clearly called his web developer and took the site down as the content on the website had been replaced with a “site under construction” page.
However, Mkasi and KZNA don’t seem to be fooling anyone other than a couple of very gullible commentators. Runners’ sentiment and response to the threat to cancel the 100th edition of Comrades was vehemently anti-Mkasi / KZNA and their greedy, incompetent meddling. This same sentiment rings true across all platforms I’ve seen.
An example is a post on the topic shared to the “Comrades Marathon (South Africa)” Facebook group where there are currently 72 comments, all of them scathing about Mkasi, KZNA and their intentions. Some examples are listed below.
It’s worthwhile clarifying that seceding from KZNA is not a flippant decision nor has it been done on the whims of the current CMA board. The CMA is a NPC with membership available to all those who have run or volunteered at the event. In short, it is a democracy that is owned by the runners and not the politicians.
At the 2024 AGM a motion was passed to remove the voting rights of the ASA and KZNA board seats with 87% of members being in favour of the motion. At the 2025 AGM, the proposed motion “That members resolve to withdraw the CMA as a special member of KwaZulu-Natal Athletics and seek to affiliate directly to Athletics South Africa instead.” was approved by an overwhelming majority with 405 For, 111 Against and 47 Abstained.
Divorces can be messy but they don’t need to be if everyone acts civilly. Comrades is in a much better place without having KZNA as a bedpartner. Comrades do not need KZNA. However, KZNA covets Comrades’ riches. There is no legal requirement for Comrades to accede to KZNA’s money lust. The belligerent KZNA is demanding conjugal rights and taxi fare afterwards but has not even bothered to take a shower beforehand.
In this divorce, KZNA does not care about the kids but they do care about the money. The runners themselves tend to be an inconvenient afterthought in all matters KZNA. So just how much money are we talking about? KZNA sent Comrades an invoice for R3,150,720 after the 2026 event despite Comrades no longer being affiliated to KZNA. That’s a lot of money for making sure that KZNA dignitaries get enough TV time on the finish line and at awards ceremonies – and are properly fed and watered in the VIP hospitality area.
The bottom line is that relationships need to be mutually beneficial — and when they are not, they should be terminated. Based on its current behaviour, KZNA does not deserve visitation rights. If KZNA wants to be invited to future family events, it needs to conduct itself a great deal better. I think I speak for most in the South African distance running community when I say that no one will miss KZNA at Comrades’ 100th celebration on 13 June 2027.
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Politics is everywhere, even runners can’t outrun it.
The blame is on all KZN affiliated athletic clubs because they should have got rid of this arsehole a long time ago