ASA Archives - The Running Mann

12th September 202612th September 2026

ASA’s Premier Athletics League: Commercial Lifeline or just another Cookie Jar?

There were several eyebrow raising revelations within the leaked June 2026 Athletics South Africa (ASA) “Acting CEO’s Report to Council”. One of these was that a new company, the Premier Athletics League (Pty) Ltd, was registered to be the “commercial arm that is solely responsible for exploiting ASA’s image rights, marketing rights as well as broadcasting rights for the benefit of the Association.”

1st September 20261st September 2026

Mkhululi Jack is Back / BORA Bullies Blasted

Great news for the running community is that popular East London runner, Mkhululi Jack, has been fully exonerated in his disciplinary hearing appeal decision. On the other hand, Border Athletics (BORA) were severely chastised and came in for scathing criticism from Selby Thabethe who chaired the Disciplinary Committee on behalf of Athletics South Africa (ASA).

The nine page document, which is available below, finds fault with every aspect of BORA’s approach, states that they acted in “bad faith”, broke almost every procedural and governance principal, were “defective” in every argument and action, made a critical constitutional breach, lacked substantial fairness and inferred that they had applied the “no earphones” rules incorrectly and inconsistently when compared with every other athletics province.

11th August 202611th August 2026

Athletics South Africa’s Continued Safeguarding Failings

This is a guest blog on the safeguarding failures from ASA (relating to the Steven Swarts and his rape conviction) by Norman Brook MBE.

Before turning to how the Steven Swarts matter exposes serious weaknesses in Athletics South Africa’s safeguarding framework—and raises uncomfortable questions about ASA’s willingness or capacity to confront those weaknesses—it is necessary to set out the facts clearly.

3rd August 20263rd August 2026

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.

31st July 202631st July 2026

CMA SGM: My vote is not a secret

This is how I voted ahead of the SGM on 1 August and why I believe it’s in the best interests of the Comrades Marathon to secede (for now anyway).

The benefit to Comrades is clear and obvious. Withdrawing comes with little or no drawbacks.

21st July 202621st July 2026

Why the Comrades Marathon will go ahead (with or without ASA)

There is a big difference between a rule and a law. A law is a formally enacted rule made by a government that is enforceable by the legal system. A rule is a guideline or requirement set by a particular organization, group, event or authority. A simple way to look at it is that all laws are rules, but not all rules are laws.

If there is ever a battle between a rule and a law, the law wins. Always.

20th July 202620th July 2026

🔍 KZNA Governance Under Steve Mkasi — Investigative Report

Report Compiled via Hermes Agent. Whilst every effort has been made to check facts, artificial intelligence sometimes makes errors that might not have been picked up in the report.

1. Executive Summary

Steve Mkasi was re-elected as President of KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) on 14 June 2025 with 36 of 95 votes (37.9%) — a plurality in a 5-way split. 62% of voting clubs voted against him. His tenure has been marked by:

Three High Court defeats on a “locals only” CMA membership ruling
Approximately R500,000 in legal expenditure without council approval
An unpaid R386,000 costs order from 2015 against Phuma AC, the club he co-founded and controlled
Multiple threats to cancel the Comrades Marathon
A final High Court hearing scheduled for 22 July 2026 that could bankrupt KZNA
A physical altercation with an athlete on 13 July 2026
A documented pattern of workplace intimidation spanning two prior employers, including an assault charge, three misconduct charges, and a resignation ahead of a disciplinary hearing

4th June 202610th June 2026

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.

10th May 202610th May 2026

Who polices the running police?

Who polices the running police? I can confirm that at least 3 provincial technical officials (from 2 different provinces) are amongst the list of tipoffs and confirmed Two Oceans bib bandits that were sent to me. These are the same people who take joy disqualifying recreational runners for technical reasons or because they woke up one morning and decided to make a particularly bizarre interpretation of a rule meant for elite athletes in diamond league events (as happened in Limpopo with #CapGate last weekend).

There have been some truly inexplicable decisions and edicts emerging from the bowels of our provincial athletics unions recently. Unfortunately I just don’t have the capacity at present to properly investigate and address each one. Suffice to say that South Africa is the only country in the world where national and provincial bodies try to govern and regulate recreational running. All good and well when you have capable people who are putting the best interests of the runners and the sport first but that is clearly not happening at present.

1st April 20252nd April 2025

Breaking News: Comrades to take CTM’s October race date in 2026

[For anyone late to the party, this article was published on 1 April as an April Fool’s joke – but it does provide a satirical commentary on the South African road running scene.]

In a surprise move, Comrades have announced that they will be moving their 2026 race date to the October slot recently vacated by Cape Town Marathon (CTM). Comrades has traditionally been run on the second Sunday in June which would be three weeks after CTM’s new 23 May race date.