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MENDILE SITHOLE

BOXING promoters have finally emerged victorious over the proposed fee hike by Boxing South Africa (BSA), with the latter deciding to shelve the move until next year.

This followed several rounds of verbal confrontation between BSA and the licensees.

The bruising battle, which threatened to split boxing in the country down the middle, was triggered by BSA chief executive Bongani Khumalo’s announcement that fees for licensees, especially promoters, were to be raised.

When confronted by licensees during the convention in Bloemfontein, Khumalo said the raises were to be effected only as deposits.

Despite the motion being rejected by promoters, BSA surprisingly distributed a circular saying that license renewals would be accompanied by various deposits.

Failure to comply would have led to promoters not being recognised as licensees in the current financial year, the circular said.

Promoters staging international and world tournaments were ordered to fork out R70 000 with their R5 000 license fee renewal.

Those staging national tournaments were required to part with R30 000 on top of their R3 000 fee, while development promoters were to pay R10 000 in addition to their R2 000 fee. BSA first demanded the fees with a levied R50 administration fee to be paid at the end of April, but later extended the deadline to the end of May when promoters threatened to obtain a court interdict to stop the order.

This prompted BSA chairperson Dali Mpofu to propose an urgent meeting to address the issue.

Several provincial promoters’ structures held various meetings at which the BSA order was unanimously rejected.

BSA was left with no option but to freeze implementation following last week’s meeting of the Eastern Cape wing of the promoters in East London, where the order was also rejected. The meeting was attended by BSA’s director of operations, Loyiso Mtya.

This happened after some of the country’s heavyweight promoters, such as Branco Milenkovic, had already paid the R75 050 total fee.

He confirmed that he paid the fee before his IBF junior lightweight title fight tournament featuring Cassius Baloyi and Mzonke Fana in Mafikeng a fortnight ago.

BSA had allegedly told promoters who had tournaments in April and May to pay up or risk having their shows cancelled.

“I was told to pay up, but there was no threat as such, although I could sense that if I refused I could have been victimised,” Milenkovic said.

Mtya confirmed that implementation of the deposits had been shelved and would be reintroduced at next year’s boxing convention.

“Our intention was never to enforce this issue, and when we realised that it needed time for consultation after listening to several role players, we decided to shelve it,” Mtya said.

The chairperson of the South African Boxing Promoters’ Association, Mzi Mnguni, who also chairs the Eastern Cape wing, confirmed that his affiliated members had shot down the hike.

Mnguni said all promoters in the country would hold a meeting in Bloemfontein on May 11 at which an official position regarding the matter would be adopted.

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