‘BOARD REJECTED MY OFFER TO RESIGN’

Over the past few months, Athletics Eswatini (AE) has found itself dominating newspaper headlines for the wrong reasons.

From resignations to petitions, there is no end to the drama. The man in charge of the federation, AE President Zakhele Dlamini, found himself in the firing line. Is he to blame for the turmoil? What went wrong? Where to from here, following the resignations of three out of five board members? Before that, the Sport and Recreation Council had tried to assist the parties to find common ground. The Times Sports Desk (TSD) puts the ‘man of the moment’ in the spotlight.

TSD: Good day president. At a time when you should be commemorating your fifth year in charge of the federation, you are leading a broken organisation. Before we discuss the unfortunate events, take us through your journey in athletics leadership.

Zakhele: Thank you for the opportunity to clear the air. I came into office in 2019. It is no secret that I have a football background, having worked as the Premier League of Eswatini chief executive officer (CEO). That was where I gained experience in sports administration. Before that, I had launched TZD Sports Agency in a bid to professionalise sports. We further launched TZD Athletics Club to unearth talent and expose them to international competitions. Our first term, which had most of its programmes derailed by COVID-19, ended last year. I’m now serving my second term.

TSD: What were some of your immediate goals or plans when you came on board?

Zakhele: Our starting point was restructuring and rebranding the organisation. We came up with the ‘Together for Gold’ tagline. We further came up with a new constitution to align it with international statutes. We further came up with regional committees to maximise on talent identification from the grassroots level.

TSD: Interesting. Tell us more!

Zakhele: We further entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the PLE, Eswatini Football Association and cycling. We further revived our relationship with schools sports to boost our talent identification programme. Through the PLE MoU, we have athletes running in between games during major competitions like the Ingwenyama Cup. This is done to market the sport to the masses. Once we have the numbers, it is easy to approach sponsors. Through the EFA partnership, we are allowed to use facilities like conferences at the regions free of charge for courses and workshops. Through the EFA MoU, running tracks are now being added to the technical centres. It did not end there. We introduced licensing and we started reaping the rewards. You won’t believe that from the 2023 Imbube Marathon, we earned E120 000 from licensing alone.

TSD: In the past year, you were elected to also lead the region. Has the country started to reap the rewards?

Zakhele: Top of the agenda is to expose the athletes to international competitions. As we speak, there is the Durban Marathon. I told clubs to send a list of athletes they will want to send there. The response has been poor.

TSD - What are the main challenges so far facing the organisation?

Zakhele: There is resistance from the clubs with regard to licensing. Organisers still hold races without collecting licensing fees. From the Imbube Marathon licensing fees, we invited regional committees to apply for funding. There was no application. The money is still lying idle. We have more than 15 clubs and they have a mandate to host competitions. You won’t believe that only two clubs hosted competitions last year. It was TZD (Lubombo Marathon) and Zithande Athletics Club, who partnered with Voice of the Church. Another challenge is that clubs do not understand that members are the teams, not their officials. They also do not read the constitution with understanding. Only clubs that have fulfilled their financial obligations with the federations are considered members. It was interesting to see some clubs not in good financial standing signing petitions.

TSD: After disruptions caused by the advent of COVID-19, things were expected to start flowing in your second term. Instead of that, things started going south. It all started with a petition. What went wrong?

Zakhele:  As a board, we received a petition demanding a special general meeting. Even though the petition was vague and it was meant to pass a vote of no confidence on the president for alleged failure to meet unnamed expectations. I called an urgent board meeting. At the meeting, I offered to resign but the board said no. They felt I would set an unwanted precedent. The petitions kept on coming but we told the petitioners and the supporters to make it clear by stating the expectations the president failed to meet. It was not addressing the issues. The constitution is clear that the agenda should be clear. We wrote to the petitioners and told them there won’t be a meeting until they drafted the petition properly.

TSD:  Mhhhm...Tell us more.

Zakhele: The next morning after our board meeting, the petitioner came with a different version, accusing me of refusing to resign. There was another petition calling for the entire board to go but still issues were not addressed.

TSD: In the middle of the endless petitions, one of the clubs (Manzini Athletics) and their Coach Muzi Mabuza were charged. What happened?

Zakhele: There was a circulating audio with discriminatory remarks directed at certain people. The president and the treasurer were labelled as people with football background who did not deserve to run the organisation. The voice note further said ever since I came on board, the Manzini Athletics Club coach was no longer attending the World Championships, but only the president and his friends. So it was felt such remarks could not go unpunished.

TSD: Then there was an uproar over the legitimacy of the Disciplinary Committee. Why?

Zakhele: That was extremely unnecessary. It was failure to understand issues on the petitioners’ part. All the DC members were appointed when we first came into office in 2019. Unlike the executive, the standing committees like the DC did not have a term of office. There was no letter terminating their engagement. The petitioners walked out of the DC and sadly, the verdict suspending the coach was issued in his absence. While the club was fined, the coach was barred from being part of athletics activities and he never appealed. It was not true that Manzini Club was suspended. That decision awaits the ratification of the general assembly. Instead, he continued to attend activities and we were forced to run to court to interdict him.
TSD: The drama continued. The March 16 General Assembly was aborted! What transpired?

Zakhele: On top of having the suspended official at the meeting, some clubs wanted the issue of the club and their coach to be the first item on the agenda, much against the constitution. An opportunity for that was going to be availed towards the end as per the constitution. I was not going to allow a meeting to continue when the constitution was being breached. I stopped

the meeting.

TSD: Just a few days after the aborted General Assembly, three board members who included the Vice President, Sipho Vilakati, resigned, leaving two executives who do not form a quorum. What is next?
Zakhele: It was an unfortunate situation. However, this does not mean the remaining board members are toothless. As per the constitution, the remaining members are still in power and can map a way forward. They can become powerless if there was a vote of no confidence. It was not a vote of no confidence, but a resignation, so there is no need for an adhoc committe as suggested by many.
TSD: Are you aware of this coming Thursday’s meeting called by the clubs, where there will be a representative from the international federation?
Zakhele: I’m not aware. We will follow the constitution on the next step to take on the current state we are in. Among other options, the board has the power to co-opt when resignations occur.
TSD: Thank you for your time. We would have loved to continue the conversation.
Zakhele: Anytime. Much appreciation for the opportunity!

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