Comrades board member suspended for ‘racist’ remarks

Closing out a turbulent week for the organisation, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has suspended a board member for making alleged racist comments.

While the CMA constitution did not allow the board to remove one of its members without calling a special general meeting (SGM), the executive confirmed on Saturday that it had decided to suspend the member pending a disciplinary process.

“The CMA, having considered its core responsibilities, which include, among others, accountability, has resolved that the immediate suspension will save the association its limited financial resources which would be expended on calling a special general meeting, more so considering that the annual general meeting (AGM) is five months away,” the organisation said in a statement.

Allegations of racism

The suspended board member, who had not been named, had been accused of making racist remarks on a whatsapp group, in an incident which is now being referred to as ‘Vanillagate’.

The individual claimed there was an active effort to increase the number of white members of the CMA who would be eligible to vote at the organisation’s AGM later this year.

In the post, they wrote: “Our new GM has recruited as many vanilla people as possible and as it stands we have close to new 400 members (all vanilla) who have joined and want to attend AGM in November to take back the CMA board to be whites only.”

According to CMA chairperson Mqondisi Ngcobo, the board felt the individual should be suspended pending an investigation into the comments.

“The CMA reiterates its commitment to serving the best interests of all runners and to ensuring that there is no place for any form of discrimination within the race itself, its organisation or amongst its members,” Ngcobo said.

Turbulent week

This latest move came two days after Comrades race director Ann Ashworth revealed she was sacked, just seven months into the job, with the board opting not to renew her contract.

Ashworth, who was widely praised for her efforts in putting together the popular annual race earlier this month, said a rift had been created between herself and the CMA board.

She claimed another staff member had been promised the race director’s position in the long term, and she had been pushed out of the role.