Doing what I do and writing what I write about, I receive sporadic legal letters. Fortunately, I have a fantastic attorney in Mark Leathers who dispatches the attempted ‘shake downs’ with the disdain that they deserve.
I connected with Mark during the Comrades crisis following the 2024 event when he offered his services to me on a pro bono basis in the fight against the attempted capture of the Comrades Marathon. He was elected to the CMA Board at the November 2024 AGM and his fellow Board members subsequently elected him their Vice Chairperson. Having Mark in my corner lets me sleep peacefully at night.
First off, let’s give some credit where it’s due. KwaZulu Natal Athletics (KZNA) Vice President Mandla Mngomezulu is a masterful spin doctor, perhaps even surpassing his boss Steve Mkasi (the Surgeon General of spin doctoring), with this latest press release. If Spin Dr. Mngomezulu had written a press release for Manchester United after they were beaten by Tottenham Hotspurs last weekend, you would swear that United had won the game and were still in the title race rather than hovering just above relegation.
Unfortunately, it appears that the KZNA executive take their runners for fools. Fortunately, no one is buying their nonsense. I doubt anyone outside of the undemocratic Republic of Mkasistan would give much credence to anything coming out of the KZNA offices these days. However, lest there be any doubt, I’ve taken the time to dissect the document.
[MARATHON #276 / UNIQUE MARATHON #169 / 17 November 2024]
When someone introduces you to a friend or acquaintance with the caveat, “They’re from the Bluff”, this is a warning. It’s the equivalent of cautioning a friendly stranger that, “My dog bites!”
When you tell someone that you are running the Bluff Marathon, they recoil and give you a similar cautionary look – and whatever statement follows indicates, “That marathon bites!”
With 275 marathons under my belt, I decided it was finally time to see whether I could bite off more than I could chew at the Bluff Marathon – or whether this brutal route would chew me up and spit me out (or, as this is a double-lap course, I guess you could call that a case of “once bitten, twice shy”).
I had been told a lot about the Bluff. Some descriptions fail to live up to expectations. However, it took just a two-second scan of the Fynnlands Sports Club bar (which was also the registration venue and doubles as the Bluff AC clubhouse) to realise that the “Rough and tough and from Bluff” mantra was not propaganda. In fact, if anything the slogan is underhyped. Wearing baggies and a T-shirt, I was probably the most overdressed male at the venue (and by far the least tattooed). You’ll have to take my word for it as I was not about to take an unsolicited photograph and risk someone taking offence.
The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on 30 November promises to be a watershed in the renaissance of the event that has been mired in controversies resulting from a string of illogical and inexplicable decisions in recent years and is still reeling from well-founded allegations of corruption, maladministration and ineptitude amongst certain staff and Board members.
Seven of the nine elected Board positions are up for election. Both Board incumbents who were standing for re-election have been withdrawn from the ballot: Sweetname Nkibande because he was not eligible as he is not a member in good standing and Celi Makhoba for reasons unknown. Therefore it will be a CMA Board with a very different composition for the 2025 event.
After all the controversy surrounding Board level corruption, maladministration and incompetence, the announced list of Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Board nominees was eagerly anticipated.
The good news is that there is plenty of choice with 21 nominees for the 7 available Board positions including plenty of fresh blood amongst a handful of the usual suspects. I have grouped the nominees into three categories and provided some context below.
KwaZulu Natal Athletics, under the presidency of Steve Mkasi, suffered another embarrassing legal defeat today at the Pietermaritzburg High Court after trying to get the urgent interdict allowing non-KZN residents to participate and vote in Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) matters dismissed. In what can be seen as a victory for the democratic process, Acting Justice Khuzwayo ruled in favour of the CMA Members which means that the urgent interdict remains in place and all CMA Members can participate at the forthcoming AGM due to be held on 30 November.
The case between the CMA and KZNA returned to the high court this morning. The CMA Members, represented by attorney Mark Leathers and advocate Cas Pretorious (both of whom are Comrades runners), had originally received an urgent interdict on 14 August to allow non-KZN residents to attend and vote at the Comrades SGM which was held on 15 August.
After a series of legal letters and communiques from a diverse group of concerned Comrades stakeholders (including former winners, CMA Board members and Comrades legends), we are pleased to report two major developments:
1. The interim CMA Board has officially withdrawn its opposition to the High Court case due to be heard on 23 October. The case is a result of the urgent High Court interdict that allowed non-KZN residents to speak and vote at the Special General Meeting (SGM) in August after KZNA issued a ‘locals only’ edict for the first time in the CMA’s 43 year history. This is expected to save Comrades over R1 million.
Despite being banned for life from being a Board member, Sokhela and her supporters on the Comrades Board appear to be using a loophole to keep her active in the affairs and operations of the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA).
On Thursday 29 August, the Heritage and Traditions Committee met, apparently to deliberate and determine this year’s Spirit of Comrades award winners. Sokhela was previously part of the committee and was in attendance. It is unclear how members of the committee are chosen as Sokhela has never run Comrades and has only been involved with Comrades for a fairly short time.
Perceptions that those in Comrades House live in a parallel universe will only be exacerbated after a rather bizarre press conference held on Monday morning. Apparently, the intention was to reinstill confidence in a severely compromised CMA Board rocked by a number of dismissals and resignations. However, instead of ‘steadying the ship’ most viewers left concluding that the CMA is now far further up the creek without a paddle.
