Netball in logistical hiccup, officials sleep in the bus
Calistus Kolantsho | Wednesday October 22, 2025 06:00
The officials were at the country’s tourism capital to officiate the BONA Division A league games that were played at Tshwaragano Junior Secondary School courts.
According to information reaching Sport Monitor, when the officials arrived on Friday night, the accommodation they were booked in was below standards.
They were then promised that better accommodation would be arranged the following day, it has been claimed.
“In the morning officials checked out because they knew they were going to a different guest house, only for that to change again. When they went back to the guest house, the owner locked the gate with the bus inside because they had not paid,” a source said.
“Vice president, Onkabetse Kesekang claimed that he had paid for accommodation and that the money would reflect in the facility owner’s bank account, only to learn that he was not telling the truth. Even on Monday they had not paid the guest house.”
The source added that normally, funds should be credited to zones so that they handle logistics including booking accommodation for officials but this time around the funds were with Kesekang.
The source further said it is unconstitutional for the National Executive Committee (NEC) to be running the league, as it should run by the two zones, North and South.
“The challenge is that BONA leadership does not tell people the truth, even feeding the officials was a challenge. The officials and NEC had a long meeting on Saturday, leading to games starting late. Officials are volunteers, it is disappointing for them to be treated that way,” a source said.
Things changed on Sunday night as officials were accommodated in a descent place, but what was surprising was that the officials were expected to have checked in at the place on Friday.
However, the officials were still stuck in Maun as the matter was still being resolved.
BNSC director-sport development, Peaceful Seleka, told SportMonitor that he was aware of the issue and they were waiting for BONA to come back and call for a meeting.
“The BNSC driver called me after the bus was locked inside the lodge, and I spoke to the manager in order to allow them to go out,” Seleka said.
Meanwhile, Notwane netball club did not travel to Maun due to financial constraints. BONA is said to have promised the club a grant which was to be deposited on Friday but that did not happen.
Efforts to get a comment from BONA were not possible as they did not respond to questions from Sport Monitor since Sunday and Monday.