Sascoc president under investigation after claims made in anonymous emails

South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Barry Hendricks is being investigated after four allegations were made against him in two emails sent anonymously.

The Sunday Times has been told that the Sascoc board last week decided to instruct its judicial body to appoint a retired judge to probe the claims.

“Sascoc confirms that the board has initiated an independent process to consider the matters brought to its attention,” CEO Nozipho Jafta said in a written reply to questions emailed to her.

“The allegations against ... Hendricks arise from anonymous and untraceable emails and remain untested. In keeping with the principles of natural justice, all individuals are entitled to the presumption of innocence until such allegations have been properly investigated and determined.”

Hendricks declined to comment on the emails and allegations, saying he would “adhere to the internal process in terms of the Sascoc governing documents and procedures and will publicly comment on this after the internal process has been concluded”.

The first email in mid-May, signed by “a very concerned national federation president” and sent to nearly 50 different sports officials, asked the Sascoc board for “governance clarity” over alleged electioneering by Hendricks ahead of a ballot on April 18 for the board position that became vacant after the death of Moekie Grobbelaar. It was won by Yaseen Lombard from the Gauteng Sports Confederation.

The federation president, explaining they wanted to remain anonymous “out of concern for professional retaliation and reprisals against my national federation”, claimed to have been contacted by Hendricks ahead of the election.

Electioneering claim

“I’ve been reliably informed that a few other national federations were contacted before and after the elections by the president,” wrote the person using the email address savesportsa@proton.me.

“Before the election: the president contacted federations to campaign for one candidate from [the] Eastern Cape against a candidate from Gauteng. Is this a permissible use of presidential authority and organisational resources? After the election: the president then contacted national federations again to ask which candidate they voted for, despite the election being conducted by secret ballot.”

This is not the first time Hendricks has been involved in controversy over electioneering. He was provisionally suspended as acting president in early 2020 after offering his views on Ntambi Ravele, who had Sascoc board aspirations at the time, after being asked for his opinion by Tennis South Africa president Gavin Crookes.

Hendricks didn’t initiate that conversation, and the issue didn’t stop him from being elected president late that year, being put into office with a new board that brought an end to what had been a tumultuous period at Sascoc.

The organisation’s reputation has improved considerably, attracting some healthy sponsorships which are being renewed at the moment.

A second anonymous email sent to more than 150 sports administrators in mid-June questioned the silence of the Sascoc board and added three more charges against Hendricks.

This email was signed “concerned Sascoc members” and came from a different email address, savesasport03@gmail.com, although it was presented as “a follow-up on our previous correspondence”.

The first allegation in the second email centred on Hendricks supposedly trying to organise a R10m refurbishment of the auditorium at the Sascoc offices in Johannesburg using money from the Gauteng Gambling Board (GGB), where he was a board member at the time.

The authors claimed he was dealing with a specific GGB official, but that person told the Sunday Times they had no knowledge of this.

This conduct is harmful and damaging to the organisation’s reputation

Consuming alcohol excessively

The second involved a “safeguarding concern” during a multi-sport competition outside the country. The authors of the email didn’t provide details of the alleged offence, but they named the competition and effectively identified the other person involved in the alleged incident by listing her role in the team.

The third was the most vague of the allegations, claiming that the president had been observed by several members “consuming alcohol excessively while representing Sascoc at official meetings and events both domestically and internationally”.

“We request that the board review whether such conduct aligns with Sascoc’s code of conduct and reputational responsibilities. This conduct is harmful and damaging to the organisation’s reputation.”

The Sunday Times has spoken to different sources who believe there’s merit to at least two of the concerns raised.

In a communique to Sascoc members late last month, Jafta said the board was “treating the matters raised with the seriousness they deserve”.

She wrote: “We encourage all members who wish to raise concerns to use the established Sascoc safeguarding email address … which provides a confidential and secure channel for reporting.”