Sikhumbuzo Moyo

SEVENTEEN National Sports Associations face deregistration by the Sports and Recreation Commission after they were found to be non-compliant with the SRC Act during an indaba held in Harare on Saturday.

The indaba was attended by the presidents of the country’s National Sports Associations and was chaired by the SRC board chairman Edward Siwela.

The 17 NSAs were found not to be compliant with the SRC Act, 29 were partially compliant while only 11 national sports associations were found to be in compliance with the Act, a situation which infuriated the SRC board.

“This is unacceptable and as the SRC we are going to be instituting hearings for the 17 completely non compliant National Sport Associations with a view to deregistering them,” said Siwela.

The 17 non compliant associations are the  Zimbabwe Aerobics Sports Association,  Zimbabwe Chess Federation,  Zimbabwe Association of Sport for the Blind, Zimbabwe Junior Golf Association,  Zimbabwe Gymnastics, Zimbabwe Handball Federation, Zimbabwe Pool Association,  Sailing Association of Zimbabwe, Squash Association of Zimbabwe,  Air Sports Federation of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Baseball Association,  Zimbabwe Kickboxing Association, Zimbabwe Snow Sport Association,  Zimbabwe Softball Association,  Zimbabwe International Taekwendo Association, Weight Lifting Federation of Zimbabwe and  Association of International Taekwendo in Zimbabwe.

The Minister of Sport and Recreation, Makhosini Hlongwane is on record saying year 2017 was a year of good corporate governance with sports bodies that don’t want to toe the line facing deregistration.

The 29 partially non complaint National Sport Associations were given a deadline of the end of November to submit the remaining documents and were advised to consult with the management of the SRC so that they could be assisted to resolve the outstanding issues.

“We have said before that National Sport Associations need to get a registered Public Accountant to audit their books but it seems some have chosen not to  adhere to this call and we are going to institute hearing in terms of the law and possible measures will be taken,” Siwela said.

He also noted that of the 29 partially compliant National Sport Associations, 26 had not submitted their audited financial statements.  Zifa are among the partially compliant.

“Financial statements are a key measure of the board’s leadership role of the National Sport Associations. We are also worried that most associations have not submitted their membership status.  Membership is one of the revenue streams for an association and as such they are denying themselves revenue”, said Siwela.

The country’s supreme sports body however hailed the 11 compliant sports associations – the Zimbabwe Archery Association, Zimbabwe Equestrian Federation, Zimbabwe Ladies Golf Union,  Zimbabwe Karate Union,  Zimbabwe Motor Sports Federation,  Zimbabwe Olympic Committee,  Rowing Association of Zimbabwe, Triathlon Zimbabwe,  Zimbabwe Volleyball Association,  Bowls Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Darts Federation.

According to the SRC spokesperson Tirivashe Nheweyembwa, the National Sport Associations were advised to submit their budgets for the year 2018 for incorporation into the overall SRC budget which will be submitted to Treasury.

“ It was noted that most National Sport Associations were in the habit of not submitting their bids for budgets and then suddenly appear with requests for funding in the middle of the year when they would not have submitted their bids,” said Nheweyembwa.

The presidents’ forum was instituted this year as a measure to strengthen the leadership capacities of the National Sport Associations and to date three meetings have been held.

@skhumoyo2000