It is just over a month before the World Cup netball tournament in Cape Town and the civil rights organization AfriForum has launched a short documentary in which allegations of abuse of power are made against Netball South Africa (NSA).
Specifically, damning allegations are made against the body’s president, Cecilia Molokwane.
“If you’re in her camp, everything is fine. But if you are not, you see another side of Cecilia Molokwane,” says Christine du Preez, former vice-president of NSA, in the documentary which was launched on Wednesday.
“She calls herself the Chosen One. I want to rename her the Untouchable One.
“Everything is swept under the rug and she still goes on.
“We have all the directors and their portfolios, but they are not really their portfolios. No choice goes untouched by Cecilia Molokwane. If she is not satisfied with the self-set targets within netball, she will say so.”
According to Du Preez, Molokwane also often interferes with the selection of a netball team.
“She is quick to call the coaches to tell them not to follow the so-called 8/4 – eight white players and four players of color -.
“She will insist that they kick out one of the white players and bring in an additional player of color. She is very clever in how she does it. It’s never really in writing. It’s always a quick phone call in which the assignment is given and that’s it.”
Marguerite Rootman, former coach of the Baobabs who was apparently replaced by an unqualified black coach, makes similar claims.
Rootman received threats about her future as a coach shortly after she took legal action against Molokwane.
“I also experienced the shouting.
“If you confront her about it, she just says that’s how she talks. But that’s certainly not how she talks on television. It’s her way of getting away with the shouting.”
Ronald Peters, manager of sport at AfriForum, says several role players who were still involved with NSA until recently approached this organization about, among other things, incidents of victimization, mismanagement and sexual harassment in the organization.
These role players requested AfriForum to intervene.
“Netball is one of the sports in South Africa that has incredible potential, but due to mismanagement and political agendas, this potential is not being fully exploited.
“The Netball World Cup is around the corner and the official hashtag of this world cup is #TakingNetballBackToThePeople. This year’s world cup tournament therefore focuses on bringing netball back to the people, therefore it is important for us that South Africans know what is really going on behind the scenes in Netball SA. Our communities and the private sector must start to stand up and take the future of sport into our own hands together with organizations like AfriForum,” says Peters.
- Click here to watch AfriFroom’s documentary.
