Magang faces revolt
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday November 25, 2023 06:00
Tlhaselo, who has not been part of volleyball activities of late, is said to be unhappy because Magang has taken over his mandate. “The entire executive committee is frustrated. (The) president makes decisions on her own. Other members who had expressed a desire to resign decided to stay thinking she would change,” a source said.
BVF has also failed to host its Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was postponed indefinitely. Magang is accused of always reminding her executive committee that she is the president and only her word goes. “The friction between Tlhaselo and Magang threw spanners in the works.
The executive tried to mediate between the two. There was a meeting recently where the president apologised to the executive, promised to correct her ways of doing things, but she continues to bulldoze the members,” a source said. Contacted for comment, Tlhaselo said he has not been active in volleyball because of ill-health. “I have been given sick leave by my doctors; that is why you do not see me in volleyball,” Tlhaselo said. However, speculations are rife that the second resignation letter will be coming from Tlhaselo in the near future. According to a source within the executive committee, a lot of times members of the executive committee only tolerate Magang but they are against her ideas. Mbangwa submitted her resignation letter last week Monday.
“I cannot continue serving under your leadership and some of your executive members. I will continue to serve volleyball in other structures as I am still willing to serve volleyball,” Mbangwa's letter reads. Speaking to MmegiSport, Mbangwa said people are always encouraged to talk when there are issues but sometimes it is difficult. “There was an issue that I felt we could have dealt with internally but the president decided to shout at me in front of my juniors. I was not happy about that because it was a lack of respect. The situation was going to force me to defend myself and if that happened, things were not going to end well,” she said. Mbangwa said Magang felt that as the face of the federation, everything had to centre around her (Magang).
Mbangwa said despite her resignation, she is still passionate about volleyball and she would continue being involved where her assistance is needed. Reacting to the Mbangwa's resignation, BVF vice president-administration, Ndibo Lebala said it is a disappointing move at a time when they want to assemble a team to drive the federation forward. “It is a painful setback. We should be seen in public as an organisation that manages conflict internally. I always feel resignation is not the way to resolve misunderstandings.
I also feel she could have hinted to someone her challenges instead of just serving us with a resignation letter,” he said. Lebala said it appears Mbangwa has long decided to resign, which is not the best and as a federation, they need to come up with conflict resolution tools. Beach volleyball national team coach, Modiri Marumo said although he is not sure of Mbangwa’s reasons, he understands that she was frustrated by those she worked with. “It is an obvious blow to beach volleyball.
Remember, the first beach volleyball vice president, Driller Sibanda also resigned. Unfortunately, there are no beach volleyball structures and it is hard as she also did not have beach commission as per the beach volleyball constitution,” Marumo said.
For her part, Magang said she was not in a position to respond to claims raised against her. “Volunteering in Botswana sport is already frustrating. I respond to those claims by working. Nothing has stopped at volleyball,” Magang said briefly. Meanwhile, MmegiSport is informed that the men’s beach volleyball team of Jack Sekao and George Chiswaniso did not have a coach during a training camp in Durban, South Africa.
The team recently left for Maputo, Mozambique for the Zone VI Beach Tour Series.
Marumo explained that he could not travel with the team due to short notice. Despite that, it has emerged that Marumo did not travel with the team because he was unhappy. BVF executive committee additional member, Pogiso Osupile has instead, accompanied the team.