Tubby Reddy lashes out at Sascoc board

Former SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) chief executive Tubby Reddy fired multiple allegations at the organisation’s board on Thursday, with a ministerial committee of inquiry again hearing that the Olympic body’s executive had become accustomed to wasting money.

Reddy’s submission to the inquiry panel, led by retired judge Ralph Zulman, centred around Sascoc president Gideon Sam, with the sacked CEO admitting their relationship had “deteriorated rapidly” over the last couple of years.

He claimed Sam was responsible for Durban losing the 2022 Commonwealth Games hosting rights, as government would not make the required financial commitments because Sam was set to benefit personally as chairman of the board of Nation of Champions, a company appointed to train 30 000 people to handle service delivery at the Games.

He also alleged that Sam had ignored legal advice from various professionals and manipulated constitutional clauses relating to the eligibility of nominees ahead of the controversial 2016 Sascoc elections, in order to ensure his “friend” Jerry Segwaba was elected.

“The Sascoc elections should be declared null and void, the board disbanded, and new elections must be called,” Reddy told the inquiry committee, which was investigating governance issues in the Olympic body.

With the committee having already heard various examples of wasted expenditure, Reddy insisted the situation was out of control.

He alleged that the entire board had flown first-class to Auckland for the Commonwealth Games host city announcement in September 2015, though their presence was not required, while spouses and partners of board members were given R2 400 daily meal allowances during the 2016 Rio Olympics, which was double the amount allowed by Sascoc policy.

This despite the organisation claiming it did not have the funds to organise an international training camp for the national team ahead of the Games.

Reddy also claimed that Sam had allegedly “double dipped” by accepting allowances as president of Sascoc and vice-president of the Commonwealth Games Federation when he attended international events, while board member Kobus Marais was allegedly claiming expenses for which his monthly retainer was allocated.

Reddy, who denied wrongdoing after he was fired on multiple guilty charges in January, said Sam had tried to sideline him from operational processes and control the Sascoc staff.

“The board’s focus was more on victimisation than fulfilling the mandate for which they were elected or co-opted,” Reddy said.

Sam, who had been in the firing line with Reddy throughout the inquiry as the two factions in the Sascoc board showed their allegiances, was expected to appear before the inquiry committee next week.

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