Africa steps up anti-doping fight

Responding to a Mmegi Sport questionnaire from his Cape Town base, Swigelaar said it is difficult to determine how prevalent doping is in the Southern African region due to the unavailability of statistics.

"Currently, not many countries in the region perform doping controls, either during competition or out-of-competition. It is only South Africa that has a comprehensive testing regime and a full set of statistics available," Swigelaar said. However, he said the situation is changing with recent test missions concluded in a number of African countries, including Botswana. He said while WADA provided the financial resources, the expectation is that countries set aside the necessary funds to maintain and continue their national testing programmes. He said the challenge is that there are 'sophisticated' dopers who go undetected.