South Africa's basketball community

The Importance of Sport Governance

By on August 24, 2008 in News

A lot has been said to the players, administrators, officials and coaches about the “governance” of basketball yet concrete evidence and information is hardly available to support what’s been said by various BSA stakeholders. The South African basketball mandate doesn’t know how the hierarchy of sport and governance in South Africa and the world in general operates; including the running of various sports federations.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) promotes olympism throughout the world including upholding ethics in sport; especially Olympic sport. They have a book called the Olympic Charter that has set rules and guidelines for the organisation of the Olympic Games. In a nutshell; the Olympic movement provides guidelines to help federations function properly, including federations that run below the National Olympic Committees which every country has i.e. BSA (South Africa’s NOC being SASCOC).

Mybasketball has been trying to get a hold of South Africa’s Basketball Constitution as well as the members of the BSA Interim Committee to find out what they’re doing to improve the state of basketball in the country, but have hit a brick wall in some of our attempt of communicating with the various stakeholders.

According to the National Sport and Recreation Act, a federation cannot operate without a constitution since that gives members an opportunity to work in an elaborate system of communication, nothing direct, as this is how information gets lost. If no one has access to what the stakeholders are doing no one can be held responsible or accountable for any wrong doing, leaving these few questions still hang over our heads.

1. What is the Interim Committee doing about the state of basketball and how can we access reports to share with basketball lovers of South Africa?
2. Who elected the Interim Committee? Because according to the IOC Charter and the SRSA White Paper various clubs and regions in every province are supposed to elect the stakeholders.
3. Does BSA audit independently? As it is advisable to do so frequently and by different auditors so they can keep an eye on each other incase there’s some form of corruption within the federation.

Basketball South Africa has the responsibility to govern basketball matters in an appropriate manner but failed to do so when players were threatened that they won’t be able to play for their country if they played in the LOP when it first kicked off. This matter could have been or can be stopped, players can approach SASCOC’s independent arbitrator to intervene in conflict resolution to the matter.

We recently got a hold of the old basketball constitution; apparently; the new one is being worked on… Hopefully BSA‘s Interim Committee can issue a report about what’s being done, changed and what’s being planned for the future of basketball in South Africa; there is plenty room for growth.

Article written by Nthabiseng Mushi

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There Are 35 Brilliant Comments

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  1. Setlogelo says:

    Guys

    As a chairperson of my District, I know what is going on. As stated elsewhere on this constructive debate, the interim committee is not at liberty to announce deals which have not yet been signed. Through my Province I know that these guys are really working hard. And as a student in Communications (Media) and through my first hand experience, it is better that our authorities keep quite until the deals are sealed. Things can get out of hand, you know what I say…

  2. Joe says:

    Setlogelo

    Just to say that you have earned my respect because as a chairperson of a District I now know that you do not just talk the talk. Also thank you for confirming that the interim committee is firstly not getting enough credit as they have reported back to members, contrary to poppular opinion.

    Baller, Palesa & Nthabiseng I hope that your questions about ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, DEMOCRACY have been answered now that someone else who is involved in the structures has confirmed what I have been arguing along.

    BSA DOES ACCOUNT and is TRANSPARENT TO ITS GENUINE MEMBERS WHO FOLLOW CORRECT PROCEDURE.

  3. baller says:

    i never disputed that they report back. my argument is that as much as they report to structures, how many structures out there are effective in reporting to their members. i have been part of a provincial executive committee at some stage and i know what am talking about. you give the structures feed-back and what they do is keep it to themselves and not inform the members or let alone call a meeting. most of the time, the chairpersons will keep the information to themselves. in the same breath, Setlogelo do your members/affiliates know whats happening at BSA now except you??

    as much as they report to the structures Joe, given the state of basketball currently it will also be wise for them to give feedback in the media. just to say to us what their plan is and what are their achievements in the media won’t hurt anyone as much as they went to the media regarding the disbanding of the old committee.

    on accountability and corporate governance my take was that the old committee should be held accountable if they breached the code of good corporate governance.

  4. Joe says:

    Baller

    I think now we are starting to understand that the problem all along may not have had much to do with BSA but with the structures that form. Therefore the biggest challenge SA bball face is not fixing BSA as has been to popular believe. Rather our biggest problem is the Provincial and Local associations, USSA and Schools sport.

    It is my contention that if we do not have the ‘right ‘ people at these BSA affiliates how do we expect the ‘right’ people in BSA. In all my contribution I have trying to drive the discussion to this very point. That BSA is the Provincial and the Associate members. Therefore if USSA elected Mr Maleka as their leader and Limpompo elects Mr Mashaba as their leader, we cannot cry foul when they are in BSA executive cause the exec is elected among the BSA council.

    Therefore, if we want real change at BSA we must implement real change at Local, Provincial and Associate level.

    As I have said ‘the revolution will not be televised, cause it starts on the ground”, hence my irritation when people start attacking the Interim exec when we should be spending our efforts to fix the local and provincial associations.

    I AM HOPING THAT FROM NOW ON THE DISCUSSIONS WILL ADDRESS HOW WE CAN SORT OUT THE LOCAL AND PROVINCIAL GAME.

  5. baller says:

    Joe

    i agree with you on that 100%. that is where our major focus should be before the next BSA Executive is elected. that obviously mean that bballers should go out and be part of this structures to elect people they know will serve the sport with all their heart.

    i hope everyone now understands where our problems started as bball.

  6. Palesa says:

    final word from me – part of being accountable is being transparent and organisationally competent. Incompetence is tantamount to corruption. we need better skills in the Civil Service not career politicians. Ntabiseng – here is a theme for your next news piece “How do we ATTRACT the skill we need in basketball administration” and if the only answer we get is money then we are spectacularly doomed.

    I think this article was a reflection on the old administration, and setting the scene for what we want to see in the future. There is no problem with having high standards. The interim committee will need to stand the test of time. BUT, are those same people not the very ones who let this situation get where it is today? My problem with Maleka is that he is a career politician (current national spokesperson for the SACP). i have no problem with him personally (i don’t know him from a bar of soap), but i don’t believe, as Baller pointed out, that we want career politicians at the helm. So SASCOC in my view made a mistake putting him there. There are some people provincially and nationally who use the “structures” to justify their own career goals and manipulate resources to suit their needs. so you say we should be part of committees, i say there is no point when you have no real power to do anything and in fact when you try to change things from within you only end up getting sidelined. And as i said – the interim committee consists of a couple people who were already part of the problem, hence my skepticism. the apple seems very rotten from the centre.

    So if we are to move forward then the first thing to do is for the interim committee to announce in the media and through the structures that there will be elections nationally for each province and for the national executive. the elections will take place at LEAST one month after the announcement and the results, list of member clubs eligble to vote, and minutes will be available in a public forum. When last was ANY election in SA basketball managed in this manner? 30 days notice, public announcement, results and minutes publically available?????? If they don’t do just that then I’m willing to bet good money that basketball is going nowhere again……

  7. Phumlani Chauke says:

    POLITICS AND SPORTS

    IF WE KEEP ON POINTING FINGERS,IT IS NOT GONE TAKE US ANY WHERE,EVEN IN TEN YEARS TO COME WILL BE STILL TALKING ABOUT THE SAME ISSUES.LET FOCUS ON DEVELOPING BASKETBALL.IF WE CAN’T HAVE SIMPLE PROPER STRUCTURE OF BASKETBALL WE WON’T GO NOWHERE.

    WE NEED TO DO RESEARCH ON HOW TO RUN BASKETBALL STRUCTURES,IT SEEMS EVERYONE WANTS TO BE THE HEAD OF THIS SPORTS.IF WE CAN PUT OUR FOCUS ON THE ISSUE OF DEVELOPMENT.

    EVEN IF WE CAN QUALIFY FOR 2012 AND 2016 WE WON’T BE COMPETITIVE ENOUGH.WE NEED TO CONQUER AFRICA BEFORE WE EVEN CAN COMPETE IN THAT LEVEL.

    LOOK AT ANGOLA,WE ARE NOT EVEN IN THEIR STANDARDS,THEY ARE WAY BETER BALLS THAN US.

    IF WE CAN COMPARE FINANCIAL STATUS OF ANGOLA AND SOUTH AFRICA,WE ARE FAR BETTER THAN THEM.WHY DO YOU THINK SPAIN CAN COMPETE AGAINST THE LIKES OF USA.IT IS BECAUSE OF THE COMPETITIVE LEAGUE THEY HAVE.

    WE ALWAYS WANT TO START AT THE TOP,INSTEAD OF GROOMING TALENT.THEY ARE STILL GUYS WHO PLAY BASKETBALL IN THE GRAVE COURTS.IT SO SAD TO SEE THE KIND OF SITUATION.

    PROMOTION OF BASKETBALL ONLY HAPPENS IN THE BIG CITY.WE NEED TO TALK SPORTS EVEN IN THE RURAL AREAS,NOT JUST INSIDE JOBURG.ROTATION OF PROMOTION MUST IMPLEMENTED TO EVERY PROVINCES.

    LETS FACE IT,SOUTH AFRICAN SPORTS IS STILL LACKING IN DEVELOPMENTS.YOU CAN EVEN SEE WITH THE FOOTBALL.WE HAVE ALL THE MONEY,BUT WE CAN PRODUCE GOOD PLAYERS LIKE OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES.WE LACK PASSION AND DEDICATION.

  8. Joe says:

    Palesa

    Again it is apparent that ignorance still prevails in terms of understanding how structures work. Here are some corrections:

    1. SASCOC did not put Maleka there, he was elected by basketball structures ie Provinces and Associate members, including USSA(SASSU) Basketball who chose Maleka as their President.

    2. The BSA interim committe cannot convene provincial meetings, unless requested by provincial members or where a provincial structue does not exist.

    3. The constitutions of BSA and Provinces do have a clause stipulating the notice period for general meetings and this has been adhered to in the past.

    4. Clubs do not directly participate at the BSA level, but are represented by their provincial bodies eg GBA and national bodies eg PBL.

    Again, I am amazed how ballers form opinions without researching the facts.

    On the suitability of Maleka because he is a politician. Firstly, did you know that President Mbeki has a Masters in Economics? Trevor Manuel is not doing bad either. Therefore, being a politician does not neccessarily mean that one is incompetent. Oh by the way! BSA, like any other sport organisation, is essentially politically organised.

  9. Sam says:

    i think the whole situation with basketball in south africa has shown that sustainability of a sport starts at the top and filters down. Thus the revival of the sport will therefore follow that route, from the top and filter down to development. i think if we believe development is the soul answer to our basketball situation then its going to take atleast 8 years to develop quality ball players for the senior national team and the professional league.
    on the other hand we can debate till thy kindom come as to who should be heading the structures and how relevent their appointment is, truth is we will never see eye to eye regarding leadership as is the case with the big three of sports in South Africa. if Maleka is appointed then we should support his appointment and we as stakeholders need to make sure he is accountable and give him our undying support.
    the gist of my opinion is that as much as it took 8 years for Rome to fall, why should it take 8 years to rebuild it???

  10. Setlogelo says:

    The proposed constitution is rather interesting. The General Assembly will be adopting the document over this weekend. I guess the Federation is passing the responsibility to all the members and associates for the numbers of participation to increase.

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