BNOC�s battle of the �Big Five�

Calistus Kolantsho | Friday September 15, 2017 12:57

 

Ookeditse Malesu

(BFA chief executive officer)

At primary school he was a swimmer, karateka and athlete. At junior secondary school he played softball as a pitcher. At senior secondary school, he returned to karate and also played tennis. When he reached university, he continued with karate, adding athletics as well.

“I am an all rounder. I was karate president 16 years ago and in my first year we hosted the Africa Youth Championships Cadets. After the championships, I was co-opted to be third vice president of UFAK. That goes to show you what I did for karate that time. Even up to today karate still wins,” he says.

Malesu later joined the Botswana Swimming Sport Association (BSSA) as vice president. He says before then, swimming had never qualified for Olympics. He says through his research, they managed to send two swimmers to the Olympics through a wild card.

He says it is only right for him to take pride in the things he has done. Malesu says even the six months he has been with Botswana Football Association, football has stabilised.

“I believe in delivery not talking. You can label me a ‘pragmatist’. My issue now with the BNOC is that their strategy, organogram and Long Term Athlete Development Plan (LTADP) do not talk to each other. If these things do not talk to each other, there is no way you can win,” he says.

Malesu says the LTADP focuses on administrators not coaches. He says for them to start winning, they must synchronies the items. He says that there is a problem between Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC), government and BNOC of understanding role clarity.

“BNOC’s job is simple, which is to accredit athletes at Olympics and Commonwealth. There is no technical department within the BNOC and you cannot run the organisation without it. I am going to solve that. I have solved problems before. I am a fixer,” the Francistown born says.

Malesu says he was invited to contest against the outgoing president, Negros Kgosietsile but lost by a small margin in the past. He says early this year, he was starting a new job at BFA, he informed federations who were interested in him that he can come in as an additional member. He says a person can make a difference even as an additional member. He says around 12 federations convinced him to stand for presidency.

“For you to be president of BNOC, you should have been a president before. You cannot have a vision while you are blind. You should have a president who has a history of winning, tangible things not marketing stunts. BNOC is the pride of the country,” he says.

Malesu argues that sport people are failing to convince the government about the value of sport. He said sport is a specialised field.

“I never disappoint. I am a man of integrity. It shows that people see something in me. Codes should be bold enough to tell people that they cannot vote for them,” the 43-year-old Malesu says.

 

France Lassie Mabiletsa (former Commonwealth & Olympic Games boxer)

Mabiletsa has been involved in sport administration for over 30 years, including club administration, national federation, serving in Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) subcommittees, being a BNOC board member and serving under the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture as a national appeals board member.

“I have been a boxer from secondary school and joined the national team. I joined the national team from 1981 until I retired in 1994 when I was a captain. My major successes as an athlete, in 1991, Botswana sent a team to the All Africa Games and I won the first medal for our country,” the 55-year-old says.

Mabiletsa says that was a big achievement and the next competition was the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. In 1994, he went to the Commonwealth Games and became the first Motswana to win a bronze medal.

“After that I retired as an athlete and became a coach. I produced top boxers in the country like Master Luza, Khumiso Ikgopoleng, Lesley Sekotswe, Gilbert Khunwane and Healer Modiradilo,” the Morwa-born says.

He says in 1996 he was appointed by the minister (responsible for sports) to formulate boxing structures and stayed there for four years. He says when he left as a chairman, boxing had won six BNSC awards.

Mabiletsa says he has never stopped his involvement in boxing and sits in various boards. In 2000, he received the Presidential Order for Meritorious Service. He was also the BNSC Hall of Fame inductee in 2015.

“I have all the experience needed at elite level. I was elected as an additional member in 2001. In 2005, I lost when I was contesting as (BNOC) secretary general,” he explains.

Mabiletsa says he is familiar with multi-coded sport organisation. He says there should be a board that understands its mandate. He says the duties of the board are not created but stipulated. He says at the beginning of every Olympic cycle, federations should give the BNOC their prospective teams. He says the programme will not cost the BNOC because it is run by BNSC.

“The Olympic movement should be promoted during the Olympic Day. At the moment, it is not being utilised properly. It should be rebranded,” Mabiletsa says.

He says if he is voted into office, he is not going to learn anything but implement what he already knows. He says his team comprises people who have been involved in sport at elite level. Mabiletsa says there are some instances where athletes are bigger than officers. He says administrators should be above athletes.

 

Tebogo Lebotse-Sebego (Botswana Netball Association president)

The only woman in the presidential contest, Lebotse-Sebego developed interest in standing for the position in 2015. Due to the pressure from the Youth Netball World Cup, she nearly chickened out. She says she will step down as the Botswana Netball Association (BONA) president at the end of October.

“I reconsidered because a lot of codes had elections early this year. Numbers of women in leadership were dwindling and that bothered me because there was a vacuum in women leadership,” she says. She says there is a better chance of putting women in BNOC leadership as 41% of the candidates contesting are female.

She says challenging for the presidency as a woman is a disadvantage. She says generally as a woman, one has to work harder to prove their worth. “I really aim higher. I am contesting against good administrators but pound for pound, I do not think any of the other four candidates is experienced like me. The electorate should know that I don’t get tired working for sports and I am ready to rock the boat,” she says. 

Lebotse-Sebego has been a BONA president for 10 years. She has received the Africa Zone Six meritorious award for service to sport awarded by the Africa Union. She will be receiving the Presidential Certificate for Service to sport during this month’s Independence Day celebrations. 

She states that she managed to stabilise netball, which has culminated in the hosting of the World Youth Netball Cup in July this year. 

“In 2009, the idea to bid for the World Cup surfaced and we did that in 2010. Eventually we won the bid. I am a big supporter of all sport. Sport brings people together,” she says.

The 41year-old says during her tenure as a netball president, she has learnt that leaders should not be scared to punch above their weight. “Athletes are moving faster than administrators. We should be in a position to guide our athletes better. Sports professionalism is moving at a faster pace.”

 

Daniel Molaodi

(Botswana Volleyball Federation)

Moloadi, besides leading volleyball, also sits in the BNSC board as affiliates’ representative.

“BNSC is a parastatal funded by government which is subjected to government policies. That means, I am aware of what is going on in respect to that area. All organisations must go through strategic formulation and decide where they want to go and how to get there,” he argues. He says he has broader experience on issues of leadership in any organisation such as sport. He says he has been a sportsperson since his school days, playing football, softball and volleyball. He says when he reached tertiary he decided to focus on football and ended up being Minister of Sports at UB.

“I took up management in 1996 and I was elected as volleyball secretary general. That is when my management skills came to the fore. We started to put up a volleyball strategy,” the 55-year-old Mmadinare born, says.

Molaodi says the strategy was produced at a time when many codes did not have one. He says when Boyce Sebetela was appointed BNSC chairperson, the former volleyball president put it in use at the Commission. He says as volleyball they take pride in that. Molaodi says his experience assists him to deal with different situations, personalities and structures. “I am offering this experience for the BNOC position. The BNOC must provide functional structures in order to work properly. One of those is to look at what gives those structures the mandate and authority to do certain things. The existing structures are not that bad but should be changed a bit,” he says. Molaodi says one of the issues to be dealt with immediately is the constitution regarding the responsibility of the board.  He says the constitution provided for an executive board, which means it is not responsible for policy, but must be involved in the daily running of the organisation. He said it was proper when the BNSC started but now the committee has evolved and has a secretariat. Molaodi says his plan is to change the role of the board from an executive role to one with the responsibility to guide and develop strategic policies, which will be passed to the secretariat to implement.