BNSC dissolve motorsport committee
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday November 25, 2016 15:03
The association held an overdue Annual General Meeting (AGM) last Saturday after failing to do so in the last two years. In September, an interim committee was set up to investigate the previous committee and to draft a new constitution. It was also decided that the affairs of the association will be handled by the BNSC until a resolution is taken.
“The Sports Commission has dissolved the committee. They took a decision that there will also not be an interim committee to avoid conflicts hence the Sports Commission will run the BMS activities. The decision was taken on the basis that some irregularities were unearthed during investigations. The draft of the new constitution has also been halted. As you are aware, BMS has been using the FIM (Federal International of Motorsport) guidelines. We do not have rules and regulations of our own,” a source close to the proceedings said.
The source further said it was discovered that the association had ghost members who were not recorded in the books. “Among the people who voted for the committee, there were new members who we do not have record of; we only knew about them on the day. The bank accounts also did not show their subscriptions and it is very interesting because they are the ones who voted for the committee. Since the Sports Commission is aware of proceedings, we hope that we will have better resolutions,” the source continued.
Despite the shenanigans, BMS’ activities will not be affected and will continue as planned. The association will hold the last round of the off-road championships tomorrow (Saturday 26) at Letlhakane while the motocross championships will be held in Jwaneng on December 10. “Our activities will go on as planned. Luckily it happened towards the end of the year. The clubs will also not be affected. They may pay their licence and other things as usual.”
BNSC chairperson, Solly Reikeletseng said they had to dissolve the committee since warring parties failed to resolve their differences at the AGM.
“We will set-up an interim committee to run the affairs of BMS until such a time an elective meeting is called,” he said.
BMS was set up in 2008 following interest of the locals to set their own regulatory body by pulling away from the Motorsport of South Africa (MSA). The association was then run by resident expatriates. It was only in 2014 when locals, Simon Modisaeman and David Mashonja were voted president and vice president respectively. Their committee was rocked by accusations of maladministration and were heavily criticised for failing to call last year’s meeting. In August, Mashonja was slapped with a five-year suspension by the BNSC for breaking communication procedure.
There have been reports that members had been calling for Modisaeman’s head for a long time now, and his former deputy appeared to have jumped ship to join Modisaeman’s rival for the presidency, John Carr-Hartley’s team. It was also reported that Carr-Hartley is eying the presidency while Mashonja was recruited to be his deputy.
In recent times, more local riders opted to participate under the MSA licence as the local authority ‘frustrates’ them.