Defiant Netball South Africa (NSA) president Cecilia Molokwane has been suspended by World Netball (WN) — and the national federation itself will face suspension if it allows her to continue in her role.
The international federation this week issued Molokwane with a notice of provisional suspension “from any and all involvement in netball” until a disciplinary panel has heard her case. The WN letter, seen by the Sunday Times, didn’t detail the charges against her, but described them as “serious”.
According to the letter, signed by WN head of governance Angela Sanderson, Molokwane had earlier this month declined the world body’s “offer to step back” from her role during an investigation. WN responded by suspending her.
“[WN] is clear that it has followed its published policies in respect of allegations made against you and clear that you are within the jurisdiction of the World Netball disciplinary policy. It is important to note that should [NSA] allow you to remain in post during the suspension it will be liable to sanctions in line with ... article 3.17.”
The article says the WN board has the power to suspend any member nation at any time.
Molokwane has come under fire a few times during an often controversial presidency, with allegations like overlooking sexual abuse claims against a coach, and poor management around the staging of the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town.
She was also a member of the unpopular South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) board that was voted out en masse by national federations in 2020.
Molokwane didn’t respond to a WhatsApp request for comment and Sanderson said WN didn’t comment on ongoing disciplinary matters.
Chairman of the parliamentary sport, arts & culture portfolio committee, Joe McGluwa, welcomed Molokwane’s suspension, saying the NSA board had been summoned to appear on Tuesday. “Most … federations have become notorious ... for misconduct, maladministration, corruption and dodgy dealings… It is sad that most of our federations spent more time in court because of abuse of power and public funds,” he said.
“While [NSA] is a member federation of Sascoc, it is unclear why Sascoc itself has not taken such a step years ago. These allegations — some of which are unknown to us — [date] back to 2019.”
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