Six Athletics SA (ASA) board members were suspended on Wednesday, ASA president James Evans said.

He said vice-president Hendrick Ramaala and financial manager Terrence Magogodela were among them.

“Six board members have been suspended pending the outcome of disciplinary cases against them which have been referred to the disciplinary committee,” Evans said in a statement.

“The cases will be finalised as soon as reasonably and fairly possible if the suspended members co-operate with the disciplinary committee.”

Ramaala, a former elite marathon runner, Shireen Noble, Esther Malema, Pieter Lourens, James Moloi and Qwadiso Ntathu would all face disciplinary hearings.

Evans said Morgan Matholeni had been appointed as acting ASA general manager.

Last week, Evans obtained an urgent interdict in the High Court in Pretoria, preventing ASA board members from taking any further action in their attempt to remove him from his post, pending the result of an arbitration hearing.

Evans believed the board failed to follow constitutional processes last month when a meeting was called to have him impeached.

“Certain board members continued with their course of conduct, which ultimately brought them into breach of the court order,” Evans said.

Since the motion of impeachment was passed, Evans said ASA had descended into a state of chaos.

The ASA bank account had been frozen, despite the embattled federation receiving a financial boost last month when it signed a new broadcast rights deal with the SABC.

Overdue payments had not been made, which included outstanding prize money to athletes, and ASA had received “several threats of legal action”, including from the SA Revenue Service (Sars).

Evans confirmed that staff members had not been paid, and he criticised the board for not pursuing allegations of improper behaviour in the finance department.

“In short, those board members involved have left the sport in disarray,” Evans said.

“While making… allegations against me of running the sport as a one-man show, the board members concerned have been taking decisions without referring to other board members or following any policy and procedures.

“This has to end if the organisation is to not be liquidated. Money which should be spent on the sport is wasted on further personal political battles, and the sport [is] damaged irretrievably.”

The special general meeting scheduled to be held in Stellenbosch on Saturday would go ahead as planned.

The agenda would include a reconsideration of the decision made at the SGM in Johannesburg in March to impeach Evans. An independent commission of inquiry would also be set up to investigate the affairs of ASA and its financial situation.

“The focus of ASA shall be on restoring the organisation’s administrative and financial integrity and then rebuilding confidence in the sport, which has taken such a battering during the past month,” Evans said.

Evans’s impeachment followed accusations that he made payments to himself from ASA’s coffers, entered into various agreements and settlements with ASA staff without the board’s knowledge, and instructed the chief financial officer to make payments without the board’s authority.

Evans and Ramaala squared off in a public spat through the media following the SGM. While Evans maintained that he was still ASA president, Ramaala, who called the previous meeting, reportedly claimed Evans had been suspended.

-Sapa

THE reintroduction of crowd-control netting at football stadiums was mooted at a Premier Soccer League management meeting on Monday following the weekend’s vuvuzela attack debacle.

Fresh security concerns were raised on Saturday when a pitch invader attempted to strike referee Lwandile Mfiki with a vuvuzela draped with a Kaizer Chiefs flag during an Absa Premiership clash between Lamontville Golden Arrows and Amakhosi at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Chiefs and the PSL quickly condemned the act and two supporters have been charged and each was released on R500 bail.

For more http://www.sowetanlive.co.za

Johannesburg – Seven policemen acquitted of killing protester Andries Tatane returned to work in 2012 while their trial was still pending, according to a media report on Wednesday.

The Sowetan quoted Free State police spokesperson Brigadier Billy Jones as saying that after a disciplinary process it was decided the policemen could resume work, and they were assigned administrative tasks.

Jones said the internal disciplinary process was distinct from the criminal case.

Police had not yet been officially informed by the National Prosecuting Authority of its investigation into two other police members who testified in the trial and were suspected of perjury.

Jones could not say whether the men would be suspended pending the NPA probe.

At the end of March, Ficksburg regional magistrate Hein van Niekerk found the State could not prove its case of murder and assault against the seven policemen beyond reasonable doubt.

During the trial, two officers testifying for the State recanted their original statements. They claimed they were threatened into making statements to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.

Tatane died on April 13, 2011, after police used rubber bullets and batons to subdue him during a service delivery protest in Ficksburg. The case received huge media attention when footage of Tatane’s assault was broadcast nationally. – Sapa

While many have written Orlando Pirates off in the title race, Roger de Sa believes his side are still contenders ahead of their clash against Ajax.

De Sa’s troops – on 44 points, eight behind table-topping Kaizer Chiefs – have two games in hand over their Soweto rivals.

“We are one point better than where Pirates were last year at this stage of the season,” De Sa pointed out.

For more http://www.mg.co.za

The 48-year-old pastor has been on the run since the case was opened at the Soshanguve police station about seven weeks ago.

The teen’s father said he and the pastor are half-brothers, who share the same father.

For more http://www.sowetanlive.co.za

Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Reneilwe “Yeye” Letsholonyane was red carded on Saturday in the team’s goalless draw against Golden Arrows at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, and as a result, will miss the team’s Nedbank Cup quarter-final encounter against Bloemfontein Celtic on the weekend. 

The last time Yeye missed a Chiefs game in the current campaign was against Platinum Stars, on November 24, where the log leaders lost 2-0 at the the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace.

Coach Stuart Baxter admits that losing Yeye for the Nedbank tie is a big blow to the team. He said that the South African international’s experience is vital, although they do have the depth in the squad to cover for Yeye.

“Yes, it is a big blow. It is a fact, we need him at this point in time in the team. His experience is vital and we need all the players at this stage of the season. With the injuries and suspensions, we just have to put our minds firmly on the ground and make sure we don’t lose focus. 

“We have players who will step up into the team, but as I have said losing Yeye is a blow,” Baxter explained.

For more http://www.soccerladuma.com