NO RECOGNITION FOR NEW TENNIS BOARD

MBABANE – The executive led by former top seed Bruce Gama remains unrecognised following elections held by certain members of the Eswatini National Tennis Association (ENTA).

The previous executive, under Derick Jele, disputes the legitimacy of the newly-elected body. The elections, which took place this past weekend at the Vocational and Commercial Training Institute in Matsapha (VOCTIM), resulted in Bruce Gama being elected president by a margin of five votes, with one vote spoiled. Thulani Gina was elected Vice President, receiving the same number of votes as Gama.

Jele, the current ENTA President, shared his perspective on the elections, echoed by Darius Dlomo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council (ESRC). “As far as I know, there has been no change in leadership; however, I still need to inform them. But I am not aware of any leadership transition within ENTA,” Dlomo stated.

Furthermore, a meeting held on March 1 was aborted due to disagreements among members, resulting in a verbal resignation from ENTA Secretary General Nqaba Mkhaliphi. Dlomo suggested reconvening the aborted meeting to facilitate progress in electing a new executive. He further noted that he is yet to receive all relevant details and is currently unaware of the new executive, except the one still led by Jele. Jele acknowledged that the association is at a critical juncture, needing to adopt a new constitution, while some members expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed amendments. This discontent was pivotal in prompting their decision to conduct independent elections.

“The ESRC is essentially stating that as an association, we must decide whether to return to a meeting to adopt the new constitution or to utilise our existing constitution for elections. That’s our current position; we are preparing for elections,” Jele added.

He also mentioned that the ESRC has indicated they possess an existing constitution, which may either be used for elections or revisited in a meeting for the adoption of a new constitution.“We will still convene and discuss; we must meet with the correspondents today (yesterday). It is crucial to note that we do not recognise what transpired this past weekend; we are not going to rush anything,” Jele further stated.

Additionally, official correspondence from the ESRC was sent to ENTA, addressing the ongoing impasse within the association.

“We note with concern the recent developments reported in local print media and various social media platforms regarding the purported election of a new ENTA executive committee in the absence of a legitimate ENTA Executive Committee,” the document states.

It further outlined that, in light of the situation, they have directed the legitimate executive committee to urgently convene a special general assembly to conclude the aborted special general assembly of March 1, 2025.

The document highlighted that once this is accomplished, nominations and subsequent elections for a new ENTA Executive Committee must be called.

“All such actions, as directed, must be conducted in accordance with the current ENTA constitution, subject to the adoption of the new constitution under which nominations and elections will take place,” the document further states.

During the meeting held on March 1, the agenda included the adoption of a new constitution and the election of a new executive, neither of which transpired.

Despite the meeting’s cancellation, some members opted to vote to elect a task team, which was given a 14-day period following the meeting to ensure that all submissions made by clubs were incorporated into the constitution.

Allen Mathonsi from Correctional Tennis Club was elected chair of this task team, alongside three other members: Musawenkhosi Mnisi from Big Eight, Thulani Gina from Recreation and Gabi Mkhabela from Mhlume Tennis Club.

After the 14-day period, another meeting was scheduled to adopt the constitution and discuss the way forward for a new executive, as the current one was set to vacate office on June 1 of last year.

The responsibilities of the task team included ensuring that amendments to the proposed constitution from last year’s June 1 annual general meeting (AGM) were implemented correctly.

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