Relief for local bikers as Mantshwabisi licence granted

| Tuesday May 8, 2018 00:00

The SACCS had announced that bikers should carry a valid road licence and must not be under the age of 18.  The decision sparked a lot of criticism from local bikers as many of them do not carry a road licence, but the Botswana Motor Sport (BMS) and the Motorsport South Africa (MSA) licences.

However last Friday, the SACCS announced that riders with both the MSA and BMS licences have been granted permission to compete at the country’s most sought-after road race.

“There was just confusion about the licencing of the event. They wanted the riders to carry a road licence in order to compete for the event. That’s ridiculous you don’t need a licence for these events. For as long as you are licensed by the FIM-accredited federation you are fine, we are happy that our boys would be able to be part of the event,” said a former BMS committee member.

At the event scheduled for June 22-24, 2018 in Jwaneng, local hero, Ross Branch would be looking to defend the title he won last year. Branch eventually went to be the first local biker to win the South African series.

Meanwhile, BMS will hold an elective special general meeting this weekend in Gaborone. The meeting comes after the current executive committee’s mandate was not extended. 

The committee led by John Carr-Hartley was appointed on interim basis in January 2017 and was expected to run the sport for a period of 12 months. Former committee, led by Simon Modisaeman, made headlines for the wrong reasons as they were accused of misuse of office. The committee took office in 2014, but failed to call an annual meeting several times last year, something that did not go down well with affiliates.

This forced the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) to carryout internal investigations, which included a financial audit.  The investigations unearthed irregularities in the running of the sport.  These developments prompted the BNSC to dissolve the committee in 2016 and took over the running of the association’s affairs.