KARATE SOUTH AFRIC

REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF KARATE IN SOUTH AFRICA

1. INTRODUCTION

After receiving numerous correspondence from various individuals regarding problems within the Karate Association of South Africa (KASA) the Minister of Sport, Nconde Balfour intervened and disbanded the National Executive Committee. At that stage KASA was the only recognised National Karate Federation and was affiliated to the IOC recognised World Karate Federation(WKF). Certain of the karate Style groups in South Africa decided to affiliate to another world controlling body, the World Karate Confederation (WKC) which was seen to be a dissident organisation to the WKF. This group also communicated with the Minister in order to have equal recognition. This request was motivated by a range of concerns regarding the state of affairs of karate and also included the suspicion of the possible misappropriation of funds within the KASA organisation. The minister commissioned a Forensic Audit into the financial affairs of KASA. The Forensic Audit report has been concluded but not released to the public.

The Minister, in conjunction with the SASC hosted a Karate Indaba at Caesars Gauteng, in order to get an opinion of the karate constituency. The outcome of the Indaba was the inception of an Interim Steering Committee comprising three representatives of the WKF, WKC and Full Contact components. The Interim Steering Committee was mandated to work with the South African Sports Commission to defuse the situation in karate and to initiate an organisation which would be all inclusive. Mr Nthibe Molope of the SASC was allocated the responsibility to co-ordinate the process. Unfortunately the progress of the process was very limited and very few results were ultimately achieved. The disputes continued and Mr Imtiaz Abdulla, one of the representatives of the WKF delegation resigned from the Interim Steering Committee and all karate activities in South Africa even though he maintained the Presidency of the African Continental Body, UFAK. Mr Molope left the SASC and took up a position at the Department of Sport in Gauteng. Ms Noma Kotelo became the responsible official for karate in the SASC.

2. APPOINTMENT OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE

Due to the lack of progress and the continued negative e-mails, the Minister appointed Mr Bantwini Matika to his office to manage the karate process.

A proposal was presented to the minister, recommending that specific individuals be identified and be appointed to serve on a National Steering Committee with the following brief:

Ø To administer karate in South Africa

Ø To reconsider the name of the organisation and to review the organisational structure

Ø Consider amendments to the constitution

Ø Plan a democratic election of a new leadership

Ø To ensure that no karate practitioners are excluded from the process which must include both full and semi contact.

Ø The process focussed predominantly on the WKF membership which was the international World body recognised by the IOC .

A National meeting of provincial representatives was held in Bloemfontein on 13-14 February 2004. The outcomes of the meeting were:

Ø The name of the organisation was changed from the Karate Association of South Africa (KASA) to Karate South Africa (KSA)

Ø A Committee was appointed to prepare an amended Constitution for KSA. Mr John Krull of Northern Cape was appointed as the convenor of the Committee which included Mr Dean Sias.

A revised Constitution was accepted at a General Council Meeting held in Durban, Kwa/Zulu Natal on 07 May 2004. The Constitution defined the process for the elections and the re-organisation of KSA into nine provincial affiliates based on the governmental boundaries. All provinces were immediately informed to commence a process of re-organising their respective structures.

The South African Sports Commission affirmed the process and sanctioned the outcomes. Correspondence was forwarded by SASC to the WKF with regards the change of name , as well as their acknowledgement of KSA being the recognised controlling national federation for karate in South Africa. Unfortunately certain individuals continued to criticise the process and persisted that KASA still exists and attempted to recruit support within the various provinces.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIP

Unfortunately very little assistance was received from the zonal and continental karate structures in resolving the crisis in SA karate. In fact UFAK further confused the situation by holding a Continental Championship in Durban without any consultation with KSA or the SASC. Even though South Africa participated in the All Africa Games in Nigeria, UFAK chose to suspend KSA due to the failure of paying affiliation fees.

The World Karate Federation, at its Executive Committee meeting held in Mexico during 18-19 November 2004 confirmed its recognition of the name change of KSA from KASA and acknowledged that KSA is the official affiliate in South Africa. The WKF furthermore confirmed in writing that unfortunately WKF members will not be permitted to have dual membership with the WKC.

4. KSA ELECTIONS

On 26 February 2005, under the supervision of the SASC, the first KSA elections were held with the following results:

PRESIDENT

MR. CASS SEHLOHO

VICE PRESIDENT

MR. ISAAC MASHININI

GENERAL SECRETARY

MR. LEON BEECH

TREASURER

MR. NOAH BHEMBE

NINE PROVINCIAL REPRESENTATIVES TO SERVE ON THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

1. Eestern Cape TO BE ANNOUNCED

2. Eastern Cape SAKI CAGA

3. Free State TO BE ANNOUNCED

4. Gauteng MALCOLM DORFMAN

5. Northern Cape JOHN KRULL

6. Limpopo FRANS KRUGER

7. North West JOHAN VAN TONDER

8. KZN LIONEL MAZIBUKA

9. Mpumalanga HUMBREY SKOSANA

In terms of Article 10.1 of the KSA Constitution, the following persons have been co-opted to serve on the National Executive Committee

1. Ms Sanette Smit

2. Ms Judy Human

It was evident that the KSA elections was contested by two distinct groups, one supportive of the KSA process and the other not. Immediately after the elections, which they unsuccessfully contested, correspondence of Mr Frans Kruger was once more forwarded to the Minister of Sport. Negative propaganda continues to prevail and is fuelled by rumours that UFAK does not recognise KSA. A meeting with Mr Baneli Sandani , Chief Executive Officer of the South African Sport and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) confirmed their recognition of KSA as a founder national federation of their organisation and their support on sorting out the KSA membership to Zone Six and UFAK.

MEMBERSHIP TO SOUTH AFRICAN SPORT AND OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (SASCOC)

KSA submitted the necessary documentation to SASCOC regarding the application for Full membership. Just prior to the SASCOC General Assembly held on 19 November 2005 , both the KSA President and the General Secretary received telephone calls from Dr Sam Ramsamy requesting information regarding the dispute in karate and it was evident that it would have an influence on SASCOC granting KSA full membership. KSA was invited to a SASCOC Mediation meeting held on 17 November 2005, chaired by a SASCOC Executive Committee member and attended by three members of the KASA group. It was evident that individuals that had failed to secure positions in the KSA Elections, now perported to be the leadership of an alternate National organization called KASA.

Non the less , KSA was still prepared to accommodate the KASA membership back into it’s structure. KSA received it’s full membership to SASCOC on 19 November 2005.(Mediation Resolution enclosed)

SASCOC MEDIATION RESOLUTION

In essence , the resolution can be interpreted as follows:

KASA would disband with immediate effect, its structures would amalgamate with current KSA structures and four of the KASA members would be co-opted as members of the KSA Management Committee.

The resolution was offered and constructed by the KSA delegation and should be interpreted in conjunction with the current KSA

Constitution.

IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE SASCOC MEDIATION RESOLUTION

KSA had an obligation to report the process to it’s Executive Committee and scheduled an EXCO meeting on 04 February 2006, to which it also invited the four KASA delegates. Prior to the meeting , on Thursday 02 February 2006, a discussion took place between Mr Imtiaz Abdulla, President of UFAK (Continental structure for karate in Africa) and a KSA delegation, with regards the membership of KSA to UFAK and the current situation of karate in South Africa. Mr Abdulla advised that KSA meet with KASA delegates in order to assertain what their requirements were. Mr Abdulla called Mr Bonny Motsa and set up a meeting for Friday 03 February 2006 in Pretoria. At the meeting attend by Mr Bonny Motsa and Mr Razien Dangor, the primary requests were for KSA to give the following positions the the KASA delegates:

Mr B. Motsa Technical Head – Semi Contact Karate

Mr D. Sias Referees Co-ordinator

Mr L. Masibuka Joint Full Contact Co-ordinator

Mr R. Dangor Constitutional Expert

The KSA delegation, with the interest of advancing karate, conceded to the requests and undertook to present the decision to the KSA NEC meeting to be held the next day. Unfortunately , the KASA delegation raised a number of disagreements at the NEC meeting and decided to walk out of the meeting which continued in their absence.

A further meeting of only the eight “Management Committee members” was held in Johannesburg on 18 March 2006. One of the KASA delegates, Mr Masibuka, was changed with Mr Kruben Pillay. The meeting did not make any progress because once more the KASA delegation made demands for joint positions with the current KSA office bearers. KSA also presented the meeting with a proposed “Road Map” of a way forward. This was unfortunately not considered because the meeting could not resolve the issues of the positions. The meeting was abandoned because no progress was made. The KSA delegation resolved to continue with the functions of KSA because it could not see any progress in the future with the KASA delegation.

The following questions remain outstanding:

Who is the KASA constituency and if they do exist, can they be compared with KSA as a national structure?

If KASA did exist, is there any evidence that they have disbanded in terms of the SASCOC Mediation Resolution?

Do the current representatives have the interest of karate at heart or only to secure personal positions?

CONCLUSION

The total lack of resourcing has been a serious constraint in making progress in karate. This has resulted in the lack of quality administration, insufficient development and the inability to have regular meetings. Serious attention must be given to consolidating the provincial structures and to ensure that all karate is afforded the opportunity to participate in the structures. The funding allocation of the SRSA for 2005/06 will significantly assist the organisation to strengthen its structures. The commitment of the WKF to support KSA in the development of referees will significantly enhance our championships and the sport of karate.

It is common in karate during the past twenty years, that the arguments remain the same and only the faces change. KSA is committed to integrate karate at all levels and make sure that there is an equitable dispensation for the sport in the future.

LEON BEECH

JULY 2006

Attachments:

1. Minutes of the Special Steering Committee meeting held on 23 February 2005. Annexure 1

2. SASCOC Dispute Resolution Annexure 2

3. Names of “KSA Management Committee of Eight” Annexure 3

4. Minutes of the Management Committee of Eight meeting held on 04 February 2006 Annexure 4

5. Minutes of the Management Committee of Eight meeting held on 18 March 2006 Annexure 5

6. Minutes of the NEC meeting held on 21 July 2006 Annexure 6

7. Minutes of the Extra-ordinary General Meeting held on 23 July 2006 Annexure 7

KSA SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES 2007

Month	Date	Event	Venue
January	25-27	KSA (SC) Senior Squad Selection	Pretoria
February	08-10	Senior Squad Training (HPC)	Pretoria
	17	KSA (SC) Botswana Test	To be announced
	23	KSA Management Meeting	Soweto
	24	KSA (Full Contact) Seniors	Soweto
March	16	KSA General Council	Cape Town
	17	KSA (SC) Woman’s Cup	Cape Town
April	21	KSA Woman’s Cup International	Cape Town
	28	KSA (FC) Cubs & Young Lions	Cape Town
May	10-12	Senior Squad Training (HPC)	Pretoria
	26	Zone 6 Seniors	Maputo, Mozambique
June	01-02	KSA (SC) Junior & Cadets	Durban
	01	KSA Management Meeting	Durban
	07-09	Senior Squad Training (HPC)	Pretoria
	23-24	Commonwealth Karate	Kuala Lumpur
	28-30	Senior Squad Training (HPC)	Pretoria
July	01-03	SASSU	To be announced
	16-18	All Africa Games	Algiers
August	17-18	KSA (Semi Contact) Seniors	Pretoria
	17	KSA Management Meeting	Pretoria
	24-25	KSA (Full Contact) Seniors	To be announced
	24	KSA General Council	To be announced
September	07-08	KSA (S C) Botswana Test	To be announced
	27-29	SASSU International	Harare, Zimbabwe
October	15-21	WKF Junior & Cadets	Turkey
	18-22	Full Contact World Seniors	Tokyo, Japan
	26-27	KSA (Semi Contact) Children	Port Elizabeth

HPC = High Performance Centre FC = Full Contact SC = Semi Contact

VISITS TO PROVINCIAL AFFILIATES

	PROVINCE	DATE TO VISIT	KSA MEMBERS	PROPOSED VENUE	CONTACT PERSON
1	KWAZULU NATAL	03 FEBRUARY 2007		Durban
2	FREE STATE	10 FEBRUARY 2007		Bloemfontein
3	NORTH WEST	17 FEBRUARY 2007		Mafikeng
4	GAUTENG	24 FEBRUARY 2007		Pretoria
5	EASTERN CAPE	03 MARCH 2007		East London
6	LIMPOPO	10 MARCH 2007		Pietersburg
7	WESTERN CAPE	17 MARCH 2007		Cape Town
8	MPUMALANGA	24 MARCH 2007		Witbank
9	NORTHERN CAPE	31 MARCH 2007		Kimberley