A social media post by a Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) board member accusing its general manager of attempting to create a “whites-only” board has led to allegations of board vote-rigging and infighting at the organisation.
Two weeks after celebrating the 97th Comrades Marathon, the CMA was shaken this week by board member Zinhle Sokhela’s post about general manager Ann Ashworth.
In a screenshot of the WhatsApp group post, which has gone viral, Sokhela says Ashworth is actively recruiting white members to the board.
It states: “Guys, you can recruit as many members as possible. Our new GM has recruited as many vanilla people as possible, and as it stands we have close to 400 new members (all vanilla) who have joined and want to attend [the] AGM in November to take back the CMA board to be whites-only.”
Sokhela, who is a Pietermartizburg businesswoman with a long-standing CMA board membership, initially told the Sunday Times she would comment, but then did not respond to queries and messages.
On Thursday, CMA board chair Mqondisi Ngcobo said that, while the organisation did not tolerate racism, it had no authority to suspend Sokhela or force her to step down.
It had asked her to reflect on her comments and explain them in “due course”. She was also asked to recuse herself from all board discussions pending her written explanation to the chair.
“Let’s allow the internal processes to unfold. We also have no power as the board to remove the members. For now, the member has to reflect on her actions,” said Ngcobo.
Signed-up members of the CMA come from a wide range of race groups and include both former and current board members.
After Sokhela’s post went public, blogger and athlete Stuart Mann said he was “investigating a story of vote-rigging and vote-buying by specific [CMA] board members” in his blog, Running Mann.
“There appears to be plenty of substance to these [vote-rigging] claims. Essentially, an individual arrives with cash at Comrades House and pays cash to buy 50 to 80 [CMA] memberships in bulk, at R100 a membership.
“Registered CMA members get to vote and decide who will represent them on the board at the AGM. In 2023, there were fewer than 200 CMA members and a large proportion — it appears to be well over 50% — of these were ‘bought’ memberships. The bought members are then bussed to the AGM (allegedly paid for by four members of the board) and told who to vote for. One of the beneficiaries of the votes of the ‘bussed-in members’ is the board member named as the sender of the WhatsApp message.”
My leadership style is a highly professional one ... This stands in stark contrast with the very relaxed, and often lackadaisical, style that existed prior to my arrival
— Ann Ashworth, Comrades Marathon Association general manager
However, Ngcobo refuted the allegations that people with no interest in the sport were being bussed in and enticed with refreshments to vote.
“There has never been something [like that] which has been brought to our attention. We always endeavour to review the membership to ensure it’s beyond reproach,” he said.
Mann told the Sunday Times he had spoken to Ngcobo after Sokhela’s WhatsApp post.
Ashworth, a former advocate with the Johannesburg Bar who won the 2018 women’s race, took up her post after the departure of Rowyn James in September. This came after disgruntled runners criticised him over some aspects of the race logistics.
Sources inside the organisation claim Ashworth is a victim of “constructive sabotage”, both internally — a grievance about her leadership style was lodged last month — and externally.
Ashworth told the Sunday Times the staff member who had lodged a grievance against her was also the subject of an internal disciplinary inquiry.
“My leadership style is a highly professional one, given my 20 years in corporate law. This stands in stark contrast with the very relaxed, and often lackadaisical, style that existed prior to my arrival. Resistance to new leadership, especially a switch from a very relaxed to a professional one, is to be expected,” said Ashworth.
“I would not have thought increased productivity, a more professional work environment, improved efficiency, and hosting the best Comrades Marathon event in 10 years could attract complaint — not least from the staff who take the credit for the fantastic improvements and additions to the race. We are moving towards hosting a world-class event and have secured the greatest level of sponsorship ever known to the race.”
Meanwhile, the CMA said it had received allegations of cheating and fraudulent runner qualifications.
Ashworth said: “We are working through the full set of electronic results provided to us by FinishTime with a view to identifying anomalies or inconsistencies within the results.”
The CMA office was also working through data that suggests several athletes missed the non-disclosed (or secret) timing points along the route, the purpose of which is to identify runners engaging in course-cutting.
“All inconsistencies will be compared with any photographic evidence available,” said Ashworth.
She said the CMA hoped to conclude its investigations in the next few days, and that the names of all race-day cheats would be provided to KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) for disciplinary action to be taken against them.
KZNA president Steve Mkasi, who is also a CMA board member, said: “By Wednesday, we should be in a position to issue a preliminary list of all the cheaters. You must remember that every day we get new information about runners suspected of cheating.”
He said KZNA had reached out to the runners to get their side of the story.
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