The South African sports administration is preparing for further upheaval as the suspension of several national sports federations is expected in the coming weeks as part of the active implementation of corporate governance principles.
Sascoc council member and second vice-president Kim Popl confirmed that the current wave of leadership changes is far from over. These changes followed personnel reshuffles within the South African Sports Confederation (Sascoc), where Lwandile Simelane, first vice-president, took over as acting president after Barry Hendrix was suspended due to alleged code violations and governance issues.
Escalation of Leadership Crisis
Governance audits have already reached the highest levels of South African sport. At the highest level, Hendrix remains suspended until the official legal proceedings conclude, which follow an independent investigation led by retired judge Bashir Waglae.
At a lower level, the High Court recently dismissed an urgent application by Karate South Africa president Sonny Pillay and two board members to lift their suspensions, ruling in favor of Sascoc and ordering them to pay legal costs. Meanwhile, Swimming South Africa president Alan Fritz and CEO Shaun Adrianse are under temporary suspension due to allegations of abuse of power and document falsification, while Athletics South Africa president James Moloi remains suspended following a forensic audit regarding alleged credit card misuse.
As Basketball SA and the Air Sports Federation of South Africa also undergo structural reviews, the administrative landscape is experiencing an unprecedented clean-up. SASCOC President Barry Hendrix was suspended and is under internal judicial review following preliminary findings by retired judge Bashir Waglae.
Popl stated on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the multi-purpose hall at Chatsworth School in Durban: 'I am responsible for national federations within my portfolio, and I can honestly say there will be a few more in the coming weeks.' He added: 'Before, there might have been a good fight, and nothing would happen. Now we are talking about what proper governance should be; it must stop. We will work with these federations, but we must take the hits as a sector, move forward, and shift the focus back to the athletes, not to boardroom disputes.'
Olympic Host City Decision to Be Made in October
Popl emphasized that tidying up sports governance is a necessary condition for South Africa to realize its international ambitions as a host country. Following government signals regarding the historic African bid for the 2036 or 2040 Games, Popl announced that Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gethon Mackenzie is expected to announce the designated South African host city by the end of October.
However, Popl stressed that long-term planning for high-level achievements must align with the goals of hosting the Games. Popl noted: 'The Minister announced he will announce the candidate city by the end of October.' He continued: 'You must tidy up your house long before that—eliminate administrative (dispute) problems and put sport back in the spotlight. Most high-performance plans for LA 2028 were approved four to six years ago. While outstanding talent will emerge, our current institutional planning in the federations is already geared towards 2032 and 2036.'
Overcoming Self-Funding Crisis for LA 2028
In addition to administrative clean-up and hosting bids, Popl highlighted a systemic crisis facing South African sport: the financial burden placed on elite athletes who are forced to self-fund or use crowdfunding to finance their paths to international qualification. Popl reported that Sascoc is preparing to launch a new independent fund to attract private sector support and reduce total dependence on National Lottery funding and government grants.
He stated: 'No athlete should have to pay for themselves to travel abroad and compete for South Africa, and unfortunately, this has become the norm.' He added: 'This is unsustainable. We cannot rely solely on government funding or lotteries. Corporations hear the word 'crisis' and do not want to participate, so we must fix the governance to bring back corporate support. We will soon launch a fund to address this issue.'
Despite the turbulence in the boards of directors, Popl pointed to positive developments on the sporting field, praising the impressive return of Olympic swimming champion Tatiana Smith. She immediately achieved the 'A' qualifying standard for the short-distance World Swimming Championships at the national championships after retiring in Paris in 2024. Popl noted: 'Tatiana's return is simply brilliant—she can offer so much as an athlete and a person.' He concluded: 'She returns in her first start and qualifies immediately. Combined with the young talents emerging in athletics and swimming, the sporting potential is incredible. The responsibility on us as administrators now is to clean up the boardrooms so our athletes can just perform.'