Comrades Gains Freedom: What Now?

On 1 August, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) members delivered a clear message that they were tired of the parasitic meddling and interference from KwaZulu Natal Athletics (KZNA) and Athletics South Africa (ASA).

Almost 80% of voting members chose a “CMA first” over an ASA / KZNA “accommodative” approach when voting on the first resolution and over two-thirds (67%) validated the decision at the November 2025 AGM to disaffiliate with KZNA.

There are a lot of “What does this mean?” messages as well as plenty of fearmongering and misinformation from certain quarters. There are many things that we cannot know for certain but there are several highly probable outcomes. Below is my detailed analysis and predictions as to how this will all play out.

Affiliation Changes

Here there is actually no change after Saturday’s SGM results. The first vote gave the strategic mandate for the CMA board to adopt a “CMA first” approach in their dealings with ASA and KZNA and the second reaffirmed the decision taken at CMA’s November 2025 AGM to disaffiliate with KZNA.

KZNA were notified of the disaffiliation decision on 2 December 2025. At the time, the intention was for the Comrades to affiliate with ASA. However, on July 17 2026, a letter from acting ASA president John Mathane formally declined Comrades’ request to affiliate with ASA. It is unclear whether this was a unilateral decision by Mathane or supported by the ASA executive.

Mathane stated that the ASA constitution did not allow for national affiliation but this appears to be blatantly incorrect if one actually reads the ASA constitution. In addition, there are currently six national “associate” members listed within the constitution. Furthermore, a leaked document “ACTING CEO’S REPORT TO COUNCIL – JUNE 2026” dated 18 June from acting ASA CEO Terrence Magogodela specifically calls for various national events including Comrades to be affiliated at the ASA level.

So there are no affiliation changes but Comrades is now officially free of any provincial or national body. The board has received a clear, direct and very strong mandate from members against reaffiliation with KZNA, on the direction going forward.

That is the reality, now we can deal with the conjecture.

Qualification Marathons

This will be business as usual. I do not expect that Comrades will change their rules with regards o qualification marathons. To validate one’s entry you’ll need to run a marathon in 5 hours or less by the first weekend in May.

Whether you run it in Benoni, Botswana or Barcelona doesn’t matter. This is a total non-issue; any marathon can be used regardless of whether it’s ASA affiliated or not. There is nothing that ASA can do to prevent you using one of their marathons as your qualifier. You ran the race, not them. You own the result.

My prediction: No change. Comrades runners can use an ASA affiliated or non-affiliated marathon (in or outside of South Africa) as their qualifier as is the case today.

Licenses and Club Membership to run Comrades

This has been a pre-requisite for South African Comrades entrants and will fall away. South African entrants will not need to have a valid 2027 ASA license or be a member of a running club. However, I expect that the vast majority of South African Comrades runners will have a 2027 license and be a member of a running club.

There is also the possibility that a mutually beneficial agreement will be found between the CMA and ASA / KZNA, reaffiliation occurs and there is no change to license and club requirements.

My prediction: No license or running club needed for 2027 Comrades entrants but no wider impact.

2027 Licenses and Running Club Membership

I’ve seen some “the sky is falling” comments and fears that Comrades no longer requiring a license is going to kill the club system but I don’t think that will be the case.

Most races will maintain the status quo and remain affiliated to ASA. Most Comrades runners will run several marathons and other races in 2027 in the build up to Comrades. Temporary licenses are expensive so it makes economic sense to buy a license for these races even if you don’t need one for Comrades.

You have to be a member of a running club to get a license so I also don’t think that there’ll be much impact here. Most people join a running club for the camaraderie, social aspects and to join in on organised training activities rather than specifically “because I’m running Comrades.”

Good running clubs that offer value will continue to attract members and grow whilst those that stagnate and fail to move with the times will shrink.

My prediction: No change to the 2026 situation.

Race Levies

Comrades has traditionally paid 10% of the race entry fees to KZNA. The CMA received an invoice from KZNA for R3.15 million for race levies but, as the CMA was not affiliated to KZNA at the 2026 event, there is no legal reason to pay the fee. In fact, it would likely raise serious audit issues if the fee was paid without the justification of a legal reason to do so (which has been requested but not provided by KZNA).

With CMA no longer having to pay levies, the question becomes, “What do they do with the extra money?” The stated intention is to ringfence this money (apparently an amount greater than the 10%) and use it directly to support athletics development. I expect that this will have a far greater impact than the ‘development activities’ KZNA is responsible for (where cents on the dollar actually reaches the athletes).

One specific example is the potential to fully fund national teams for the 50k and 100k World Championships (WCs). ASA has failed to send a national team to the 50k or 100k WCs for several years (and when athletes arrived at the airport in 2023 to travel to the 50k WCs they were left stranded as no tickets had been bought or visas obtained).

My prediction: Comrades will earmark R4 million for development and this will make more difference to athletics development than KZNA or ASA has over the last 10 years.

Television Broadcasting Rights

This is perhaps Mathane’s biggest blunder. Broadcast rights for athletics events have been controversial and there have recently been some competition commission and tribunal challenges to ASA’s “monopoly” over broadcast fees. In the past all broadcast rights were owned by ASA and no money from the selling of rights to SABC or Supersport was paid to Comrades.

By spurning the CMA’s advances, Mathane has essentially given up ASA’s broadcast rights because Comrades is not affiliated with any national or regional body. The annual rights are believed to have a face value of between R5 and R10 million.

My prediction: World class local television coverage is provided by SABC or Supersport complimented by a live YouTube feed. The international audience (who could watch the race live on YouTube for the first time in 2026) continues to grow. The teething issues with the 2026 coverage are sorted out.

Technical Officials

Comrades will need to obtain appropriate technical and legal guidance to determine the rules, regulations, and technical standards applicable to the event going forward. I expect that the vast majority of 2026 rules will apply for 2027 and that the existing WA rules form the basis for this. Rules are not copyrighted so anyone can use the existing ‘sanctioned’ rules should they choose to.

ASA can’t legally prevent technical officials from assisting at Comrades but they could subtly sideline those that do. I am sure that Norrie Williamson, probably the most experienced technical official in South Africa, would happily put his hand up if asked and perform technical official duties at the 2027 event.

My understanding is that to become a qualified technical official requires passing an exam on all athletics disciplines like shot put, high jump and every other track and field event. Road running by itself is relatively simple (especially if you are not policing the recreational athletes). Comrades may choose to train up their own staff as technical officials or bring in international officials should it be impossible to use local officials.

My prediction: Largely the same rules as were used in 2026 apply in 2027 and there will be no post-race controversy over application of the rules.

World Athletics & Elite Athletes

This is another complete misnomer; World Athletics recognition is completely irrelevant for Comrades because it is a non-standard distance. Comrades does not count for world ranking points either so whether it is affiliated or not has zero relevance for elite athletes who are running for the richest ultra marathon prize purse on the globe and the prestige that is associated with Comrades.

Comrades maintain their own records, ASA never have and never will. WA have zero interest in the actual results and records from Comrades. Theoretically someone could break the 50k record on the Comrades route but that is highly unlikely given the terrain over the first 50k on both the Up and Down runs. The 50 mile world record will never be set on the Up run and would not count on the assisted Down run. Besides which, there have never been timing mats at the 50k and 50m marks.

My prediction: The 2027 Comrades field will be as good if not stronger than the 2026 field.

Sponsors

Sponsors hate controversy and corruption. That is why ASA and provincial federations are unable to get any sponsorship. Sponsors want to know that their money is being spent wisely and that they will get a return on their investment. This is why sponsors avoid ASA like the plague and instead go straight to the “source” and support clubs and events with reputable leadership and proper financial controls.

As for race sponsors, they likewise want to know that the corrupt and incompetent are not involved. Saturday’s voting sent a clear message on that score. Comrades owning its own broadcast rights is another major boon for sponsors. It also means that the sponsors of athletes are guaranteed international and online exposure.

 My prediction: Comrades will grow its sponsorship base ahead of the 2027 event.

ASA Banning Athletes

ASA may well threaten to ban licensed athletes who run Comrades but these will just be farts in the wind. Freedom of association is enshrined in the South African constitution. Should ASA follow through on a banning threat there will be a bunch of lawyers lining up to offer pro bono or contingency (where they only get paid if they win) services. A slam dunk high profile urgent interdict is every attorney’s dream and ASA’s nightmare.

There is also plenty of precedent as ASA has not banned any licensed athletes participating in what they refer to as “unsanctioned events” like the 702 Walk The Talk or the East Coast Radio Big Walk. It is also notable that every weekend thousands of licensed athletes participate in the biggest unsanctioned running establishment in South Africa: parkrun.

My prediction: No one is banned.

National Colours

ASA could refuse to select Comrades runners for the national team on the rationalised basis that they are “too tired” afterwards to compete at peak levels. However, as previously mentioned, ASA has not sent a team to the 50k or 100k WCs for several years.

You are able to run the WCs as an independent so the CMA could fund a team or individuals. If those independents ran faster than the national athletes that would be further embarrassment for ASA.

My prediction: ASA threatens non-selection but is not able to send a team to the WCs in any case.

Doping Controls

The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) no longer has their own lab in South Africa and all samples are sent to the lab in Qatar or Belgium. Comrades will need to engage directly with SAIDS to arrange and facilitate the required testing. At present, the CMA does not pay directly for this service, as the Comrades Marathon is included on the ASA calendar of events selected for testing. Therefore, the CMA will need to contract with and pay SAIDS directly for all doping-control services.

If for some reason SAIDS refused, any trained and qualified persons could be engaged to supervise and control samples which would be sent to the exact same Qatar or Belgium labs for testing.

My prediction: SAIDS continues to do doping controls and Comrades pays for the privilege.

Will other existing races disaffiliate?

I expect that the status quo to remain at most large events. Cape Town Marathon requires WA affiliation for world ranking points. No world ranking points means no elites and no elites means losing WMM status. Despite relations being very strained between CTM and Western Province Athletics (WPA), I do not expect them to disaffiliate. CTM are likely to push for national affiliation with ASA (which will put Mathane in a tricky position as he said this was not possible for CMA).

Two Oceans has a very different context with WPA involvement hard baked into the NPC’s Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) and four of the 12 board positions are appointed by WPA. The ultra is a non-standard distance but the half marathon is the richest in South Africa and will benefit by WA affiliation and world ranking points. WPA has been benign as opposed to KZNA’s malignancy.

As for other large events like the ABSA and Spar running series, these are also standard distances with a clear WA benefit and no real push to disaffiliate.

Some of the smaller events, especially those that are getting abused by their provincial federations may choose to disaffiliate. The downside for them is that they will not appear on the provincial calendar but these days everyone uses https://runningcalendar.co.za/ or the Race Space App to get their calendar and neither of those gives a hoot about affiliation. The upside is that they will no longer have to pay the 10-15% mafia protection racket entry fee tax and can use this saving for the event’s benefit.

My prediction: The status quo remains and very few other events will disaffiliate.

New unaffiliated events

Here I do expect (and hope for) some change. The illusion that you need to be sanctioned by a provincial federation has been broken. You only need to comply with SASREA and get your permits from the relevant authority to host an athletics event.

I expect we’ll see some new events flying solo, bypassing the bureaucracy and red tape of going through the provincial channels. An example is the Kit Kat Cash & Carry Marathon in September. I am told that they came with a large amount of sponsorship money, applied for a race date from AGN (acting ASA president John Mathane is also president of AGN) and were told “No”. So they’ve simply gone ahead and organised their own marathon without AGN involvement.

We might also see some for-profit companies emerging and hosting a regular series of events like you see in the UK. There is already a company, Wanadoo Events, doing this in Gauteng with popular well organised trail and road runs (CGA have tried to shake them down in the past but Mark Leathers sorted them out).

Personally I think that this is great as it gives runners more choices and frees up the market for healthy competition. Runners can vote with their feet and will support good value, well organised events and avoid those that are continually plagued with problems.

In particular, I think that there is a major gap for someone in the Western Cape where all the races are oversubscribed and are selling out very quickly. In my opinion, road running is far too overregulated and could benefit with some private capital offering more choices without having to go through seven committees to get a race date. Such is the demand for race entries that the impact to existing races will be minimal except for the poorly organised races suddenly facing competition when an independent race is hosted on the same weekend.

My prediction: We’ll slowly see new independent events emerge.

KZNA and ASA’s Attitude

One of the key determinants as to what happens next is ASA and KZNA’s attitude to the divorce. Unfortunately, I do not think that either organisation is currently led by the kind of men that will be able to handle rejection well and process that the runners are fed up with their corruption, arrogance and incompetence.

Should ASA and KZNA take a conciliatory approach, you might even see the 2027 event being affiliated in some manner but on the CMA’s terms and in a way that is mutually beneficial. The CMA board has consistently said that it is willing to work with all stakeholders and this sentiment was reiterated by chair Mark Leathers in his opening message at the SGM.

Phrases Leathers used were, “The CMA is committed to working with both provincial and national federations and all stakeholders.”, “This is not an ‘all in’ or an ‘all out’ decision. We can never be all out.” and “All that is needed is not whether we engage – that is happening – but how we engage.”

The tribe has spoken and the ball is in ASA and KZNA’s court as to whether they listen and transform from being dictatorial, compliance-driven, rule-based organisations to collaborative, customer centric, value-adding organisations.

My prediction: ASA and KZNA will sulk and make idle threats.

Policing of Recreational Runners

The first rule in World Athletics’ technical handbook states, “In the case of mass participation events held outside the stadium, these Rules should normally only be applied in full to those athletes, if any, who are designated as taking part in the elite or other defined section of the races such as age group categories for which there are placings for awards or prizes. Race organisers should outline in the information provided to other athletes which other rules will apply to their participation, particularly those pertaining to their safety.”

Basically this is a clear instruction not to throw the rulebook at recreational runners. WA rules do not and should not apply to recreational runners. There have been many years of technical officials going on power trips with selective application of technical rules, often transgressing into harassment and bullying. Rules have been selectively enforced, illegally applied and we’ve seen bizarre and illogical interpretations of rules within some provinces. This needs to stop.

WA Rule 1 further states that, “With respect to mass participation Running and Race Walking Events, it is prescribed that these Rules shall only be fully applied to any elite component of the event or any other part designated by the organisers where there is a logical reason to do so, e.g. because of significant awards or prizes.”

Whilst it is debatable when prize money becomes significant, this also makes it clear that a small town race with a small town budget offering a few hundred rands of prize money should also not be policed like an elite event.

In an ideal world, the administrators and officials will just let the recreational runners participate for the joy of the sport and stop their heavy-handed wielding of the rule book. This is the way running works everywhere else in the world. South Africa is the only country that insists on policing recreational runners.

Unfortunately, I don’t think even Eskom can prevent the power trip many technical officials are on.

My prediction: Technical officials will continue policing recreational runners with selective, illogical and illegal rule applications and I will continue to write about them.

Athletics Reform

There is much hope that the CMA decision will lead to reform within athletics structures and better leadership. This could be an article itself but the current system protects the incumbents and the incumbents are largely incompetent crooks.

When a crook gets caught in a normal corporate environment they would be fired within a week. In athletics structures they get pseudo-suspended for years and then reemerge with no consequences. Even rapists are allowed to roam free. Another problem is that those who would replace the crooks are equally compromised and have their own criminal charges hanging over them.

For me the two biggest reforms that are needed are moving to a “one license, one vote” system and allowing electronic attendance and voting at AGMs. We currently have the very easily manipulated “one club, one vote” system (so a club with 5 members has the same voting power as a club with 5000 members) and there have been cases where new clubs were formed solely for the purpose of rigging an election.

My prediction: Sadly, I do not think we will see any large reforms and the incumbent crooks and incompetents will still be around indefinitely. .

Breakaway Road Running Association

I think that this is realistically the best chance to truly reform and transform road running. WaterPoloSA have shown that it is entirely possible to take back control of one’s sport. However, this would take a substantial amount of effort and coordination to put into place.

My prediction: Unlikely to occur (on a large scale anyway) unless ASA and the provincial federations continue to abuse and molest the people that they are supposed to serve.

Follow Running Mann:

• 
• 
• 
•