DA fights to make Swimming SA’s sexual grooming report public

Swimming South Africa’s sexual grooming scandal won’t be swept under the carpet, after the Democratic Alliance (DA) has made its second plea in two months to the organisation to release an independent report investigating historic sexual grooming allegations at the body.

The party has now made a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application to make the Goldman Report public.

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Last November, Women and Men against Child Abuse advocacy group led by Luke Lambrecht brought legal action against Swimming SA for not reporting incidences of sexual misconduct to the police. 

Lambrecht famously led the case against disgraced tennis star Bob Hewitt, who was convicted of the raping and sexual assaulting girls aged between 12 and 14 when he was their coach.

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Swimming SA reportedly sat on the sexual abuse claims and only held an internal investigation after Lambrecht opened dockets at the police station. Two women, now in their 50s, say they were sexually groomed between the 1970s and 1980s.

Two Swimming SA coaches, one of whom is reportedly a legend in swimming circles, were at the centre of those investigations, but the findings of that inquiry are still a mystery.

The party has accused Swimming SA of prioritising its reputation and protecting the suspects’ identities, rather than its swimmers’ mental and physical wellbeing.

“The truth is that sexual misconduct seems to have been swept under the carpet at Swimming SA for a long time,” said DA MP Veronica van Dyk.

Swim South Africa president Alex Fritz declined to comment, saying he would speak at a later stage.