Motor Sport Executives Resign Amidst Protest
Kabelo Boranabi | Monday August 31, 2020 12:07
The trio, vice president, Roseline Mamaloukos, treasurer Alida Steytler and Joseph Khengere has tendered resignations and accuse some members of the committee of misuse of office.
While Steytler did not state her reasons, Mamaloukos in writing said, 'I can no longer be in an environment that is toxic and there are threats and insults from a certain committee member. It is with regret that I will be resigning from my post.'
There had been festering squabbles within the committee, but things went south when the association was to attend a stakeholders’ meeting over the weekend in Selebi Phikwe. The meeting was to kick start preparations for the 2021 1000km Toyota Desert Race, or Mantshwabisi as the event is commonly called.
Speaking to Monitor Sport, Khengere said there was no formal communication from the president, Kagiso Modibedi as they were kept in the dark over the meeting. He said, along with Steytler and Mamaloukos they received threats from some committee members when they enquired about the weekend's meeting. He said a request for funds for the meeting was sent to the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) without the knowledge of the treasurer and other committee members.
'They run BMS like it is their own private entity, not a public federation. There is no transparency at all within the committee.
For instance, sometime last week, we got stakeholders call for the meeting but when we enquired nobody answered. We were only shocked to see some members already in Phikwe. We also learned that there was a request for funds from BNSC which was around P25, 000 for the logistics of the meeting and this was done without knowledge of the treasurer.'
'The Phikwe trip was not properly planned. Only three people in the committee received the email (message) on the meeting. The vice president asked questions but she was threatened, the treasurer also tried to find answerers but to no avail. The treasurer decided to leave to save her integrity as she did not want to be part of that all. As a communication officer I also decided to leave.
I am supposed to be the person to send the information to the public but what am I going to say when things I done like this? Personally, I cannot deal with this kind of scenario. I cannot be part of a BMS that operates like this. Surprisingly, the president is just quiet on the matters, which means he is also part of the whole thing,' Khengere said.
Meanwhile, Monitor Sport has been informed that BMS is facing a defamation lawsuit from former president Simon Modisaemang. 'Simon is suing BMS and his lawyers have served the association with the court papers. Nobody knows the details of the case because the president has not given us the full details of the matter.
He decided to hide the papers from the rest of the members,' a source said. This publication's efforts to source a comment from Modibedi on Sunday morning were not successful as his mobile number was off. However Modibedi accused Khengere of having hidden agendas against him and the committee and denied any allegations of misusing the office.
'I have not been abusing and misusing the office. It’s an allegation and that's all. We have engaged all club chairpersons on these issues and we have a meeting scheduled for next Wednesday regarding these issues and to prepare for an upcoming AGM (Annual General Meeting). In all organisations, there are procedures and if it was to complain, the way Khengere followed shows motive, but he should follow the right channels and not defame anybody. He has hidden agendas, the last time we saw him in office was last year August. Is he the same person who says he doesn't get answerers? He doesn't attend meetings, he has no solutions but only criticises other people's efforts. How can he be taken seriously?'
Modibedi confirmed that the AGM will be held on September 26, where amongst other issuesiwill be to fill the now vacant posts in the executive committee.