Jele accuses BNSC of sabotage
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday December 26, 2025 12:36
The athlete took to social media to express her displeasure over the conduct of the commission when she needed assistance in conducting her own investigations to clear her name over doping allegations. Jele said she requested for CCTV footage from BNSC gym since August 2024 only to be granted access to the hard drive in January 2025. She said BNSC staff took months refusing with the hard drive, only to receive it after appealing to the Ministry of Sport and Arts. “It has come to my knowledge that I was given a new hard drive that contained footage for a week. I received that information after I took the hard drive to South Africa to recover the footage. They informed me that there was nothing for my use in the hard drive or it was formatted. My question is what was the motive behind that? Why was the old hard drive removed and I was given a new one?” wondered the frustrated Jele.
She said it was shocking that such things happen at the BNSC gym, a place where athletes should be protected. For his part, Lydia’s husband, Ofentse Jele said he will not rest until justice is served, saying there is a lot that is happening and it is just a matter of time before everything comes out exploding. “This is my wife we are talking about, not just another athlete for them to do as they please with her,” Ofentse hissed. For his part, BNSC marketing and communications manager, Anderson Nlisana told Mmegi Online that complaints that are raised by Jele have been dealt with. He said it is an old matter that was attended to last year, and wondered why it was coming out now. In May, The Continental Results Management Panel (CRMP) For Africa Arbitration slapped Jele with an eight year ban after a failed appeal.
The panel ruled that the 34-year-old Jele is guilty as charged after testing positive for Stanazol, a prohibited substance, following an out-of-competition testing programme that was carried out on June 17, 2024 by a Doping Control Officer in Gaborone, in line with international standards for testing and investigations. According to the ruling, a sanction of eight years was imposed as this was her second testing. Jele's first doping offence was on October 14, 2017.
The eight-year sanction is with effect from June 17, 2024.