Call to scrap BNSC’s tier system
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday April 20, 2026 06:00
The general feeling amongst the affiliates is that the model, called the Botswana National Sport Associations Resource Allocation Scheme (BONSARS), should be scrapped, according to Botswana Softball Association president, Tirelo Mukokomani, who attended the meeting. The funding model allocates resources based on performance, governance, and strategic importance, with tier one being the highest and tier four the lowest. Mukokomani revealed a concern was raised during a ‘Meet and Greet’ session with Sikwane this week. Speaking to MmegiSport, Mukokomani noted the tier system is not functional. He said the system was used in other African countries but have since been abandoned as it was not serving its purpose.
“The system ignores a lot of fundamentals of our sport. Simple general things like, where do you get 10 Fencing clubs when the equipment is expensive? We must deal with basic issues,” he said. Mukokomani said bureaucracy is also not helping. A BNSC correspondence dated February 6, reminds affiliates of their obligation to comply fully with the requirements governing registration, governance, administration and operations as prescribed in their constitutions and the BNSC Act and BNSC policies. “To this end, we are issuing this circular and guidance paper to outline the key compliance requirements that must be adhered to by NSAs to maintain good standing with the BNSC. All NSAs are hereby directed to regularise their compliance to the BNSC not later than February 27,” the letter reads and further states that non-compliance would lead to deregistration. “The CEO started work in January, and in the last few weeks, there were back-and-forth correspondences between us and BNSC. Federations were requested to comply with a number of issues; we felt that the requirements were misplaced at this point.
“We are dealing with federations of different natures operating in different environments, which means compliance will differ. Those are basic issues at the Registrar of Societies. There was also an issue of how we handle funds, those we should comply with,” he said. Mukokomani added they needed to meet with Sikwane specifically to discuss the savingram and map the way forward. He said they agreed as federations instead of meeting to present their issues, they would rather address the letter that BNSC wrote.
“The meeting went well in terms of the meet and greet. It took a different turn specifically because we wanted to resolve an issue. The CEO has assured us that within a short period of time, he will deal with the issues. The trouble we had was a little bit of professional courtesy, to say now we have received your letter. He acknowledged that it should have been done. In my view, at the level, you have staff that must guide him, that is where they let him down a bit,” Mukokomani said. He highlighted that, given the implications of the BNSC savingram, although the deadline has since passed, affiliates continue to receive assistance.
“Sikwane laid out, to some extent, issues that he wants to deal with in the immediate term, coupled with the fact that he has his expectations of federations. There is always misuse of funds within NSAs. He also spoke of accountability, both within the federations and the BNSC. We should hold BNSC accountable at one point,” said Mukokomani.
Mukokomani said there were a lot of issues raised, but since it was a meet and greet, he did not know if these were enforceable. “I do not know, maybe we were just chatting,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sikwane said he was constrained to do interviews until a BNSC board is in place. The board was dissolved by the Minister of Sport and Arts, Jacob Kelebeng, in February.