Comrades Marathon stakeholders set to clash in court following months of internal turmoil

Piet Wiersma wins the mens 2024 Comrades Marathon race during the Comrades Marathon finishing at Hollywoodbets Scottsville Racecourse on June 09, 2024 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. (Photo: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images)

By Yanga Sibembe

21 Oct 2024

An upcoming court case will have a major influence on the future of one of South Africa’s most prestigious sporting events.

The Comrades Marathon is one the most recognisable sports events in existence, a test of endurance and perseverance which is more than a century old.

In fact, the annual race is the oldest ultramarathon in the world, dating back to its humble beginnings in 1921, where it began as an ode to South African soldiers who had fallen during World War 1. For its inaugural edition just more than 30 people were at the start line.

In 2024, about 24,000 runners lined up at the start point of the “ultimate human race”, as the contest is known. Since that race, the 97th official in Comrades history, boardroom tensions which had been bubbling below the surface have risen.

Internal turmoil

Over the past couple months there have been mass resignations from the board of the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA), the body responsible for organising the race. First to depart was Zinhle Sokhela.

In June Sokhela sent a racist message on the official Comrades Corporate Governance WhatsApp group, accusing then Comrades Marathon race and operations manager Ann Ashworth of recruiting too many “vanilla” people. The saga would be known as Vanillagate as the message found its way to wider social media.

The CMA initially dragged its feet in taking action against Sokhela, saying “the constitution of the CMA does not empower them to remove a board member”. However, a suspension was subsequently enacted after members pointed out the clause in the CMA constitution that allows for this.

During a special general meeting (SGM) on 15 August 2024, Sokhela resigned from the board and was also handed a lifetime ban from the CMA for her transgression.

Comrades KZN Athletics president Steve Mkasi during the 2024 Durban International Marathon launch at the Riverside Hotel in Durban on 19 September 2023. (Photo: Gallo Images)

The meeting took place soon after an urgent court application by CMA members as a result of KZN Athletics issuing a decree that CMA members outside KwaZulu-Natal could not speak or vote at the meeting – for the first time in the CMA’s history.

The reasoning from KZN Athletics and the CMA was that the latter is a special member of the former, whose membership is strictly restricted to clubs in the province. It is worth noting that, because of this special relationship between the two bodies, KZN Athletics president Steve Mkasi is an automatic board member at CMA.

Read more: Race to infamy — Comrades Marathon Association plagued by internal spats, claims of corruption and racism

The court granted an urgent interdict in favour of the members from all over the country and they were able to participate in the SGM at which Sokhela was banned.

Another key outcome from that gathering was that ordinary members of the CMA could participate in meetings virtually, especially because a large number of members are not residents of KZN.

Days after the special meeting, CMA chairperson Mqondisi Ngcobo and vice-chairperson Leslie Burnard tendered their resignations, throwing the organisation into further turmoil. Two other board members, Pumlani Ntuli and Kerwin Basson, stepped down.

Gerda Steyn wins the women’s 2024 Comrades Marathon, finishing at Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg on 9 June 2024. (Photo: Darren Stewart / Gallo Images)

Court bound

The matter in which an interdict that was granted in favour of the members in August will now be fully ventilated from Wednesday, 23 October in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

Daily Maverick contacted KZN Athletics president Mkasi in relation to his organisation’s involvement in all that has transpired at the CMA in recent months. In response, he shared his answering affidavit for the upcoming court case.

In the document, Mkasi reiterates a number of utterances he has made publicly in the past as the head of KZN Athletics. They include the organisation’s assertion that important CMA decisions should be made within the jurisdiction of KZN.

“If you are not from New York, you don’t have a say in the New York Marathon; if you are not from Soweto, you don’t have a say in the Soweto Marathon, and the same thing applies to other races,” Mkasi told The Witness after the August interdict was granted ahead of the SGM.

“So, in short, you can’t be a member of those organisations if you are not from there. So, if you are not from KwaZulu-Natal, you should not have a say in the KZN event – the Comrades Marathon,” he said.

The reasoning from KZN Athletics and the CMA was that the latter is a special member of the former, whose membership is strictly restricted to clubs in the province.

However, members argue that the CMA is not a club as defined in KZN Athletics’ constitution. It is merely a special member, created specifically to run the Comrades Marathon.

Thus, KZN Athletics has no authority to interfere in the everyday running of the CMA. Despite the special relationship between the pair.

Piet Wiersma wins the men’s 2024 Comrades Marathon on 9 June 2024. (Photo: Darren Stewart / Gallo Images)

Conflict resolution

In his affidavit Mkasi also argues that the members could have used other means of conflict resolution, instead of heading to court, within the confines of the KZN Athletics and CMA constitutions. This includes reaching out to Athletics South Africa if an internal solution failed.

Mkasi also argues that this public fighting is not great for the image of the sport from a commercial perspective, saying sponsors – existing and potential – might be spooked.

“Why didn’t the KZN Athletics executive, at that point, say ‘Let’s not go to court. Let’s sit around a table and just discuss it’? They never did. They had an option to reply to a letter of demand sent on the 13th of August. They refused,” a source told Daily Maverick.

“They’re hypocritical in their actions. They are saying this is what should happen. But they allowed this thing to go to court. And it’s still going to court,” the insider added.

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika in August Mkasi claimed all this recent action was an “attempted coup at the CMA”.

“Whoever wants to engage with us, but they have a mindset of what the resolution of those talks should be, that is not talking. That is people coming to tell you [what should happen],” he added.

While all of this happens around this internationally revered and respected race, rare funds are being spent on court battles, which could be redirected to further enhancing it. DM

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Internal turmoil

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