Sports Minister must bring SSA to heel

5 December 2021

The DA calls on the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, to ensure that Swimming South Africa (SSA) gives account of the various allegations of sexual misconduct at the federation. This after SSA continued its trend of dodging accountability by handing in its report to the parliamentary portfolio committee for sports, arts and culture at the last minute. This meant that committee members did not have enough time to prepare questions on the report.

The DA therefore also calls on the chairperson of the committee, Beauty Dlulane, to reconvene the meeting as a matter of urgency so that SSA can finally be held to account for the alleged atrocities in the sport.

That SSA pulled this stunt during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) hardly came as a surprise as the federation has refused to answer numerous questions from Members of Parliament, the media, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), activists and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) assisting the alleged victims of sexual abuse.

The DA further calls on Minister Mthethwa to obtain the Goldman Report regarding the investigation of sexual abuses at the federation, and to make it available to the committee for scrutiny.

The DA cannot help but wonder at SSA’s continued silence and refusal to release this report. Given the extremely high and ever increasing statistics of GBV in South Africa, we would assume that SSA would do everything in its power to protect vulnerable swimmers from alleged sexual predators. Their actions alas, disproves this hope.

Issued by Veronica van Dyk, DA Deputy Shadow Minister for Sports, Arts and Culture, 5 December 2021