I am going to copy and paste a newsflash we were all sent directly after the meeting on the 12th.....I can assure you, it was an accurate account of what was said at that meeting...........Anything that has changed, has changed since that meeting. how/who and why ithas been altered is the question........................To the members of the KZNHS Grant Ketteringham, the acting chairman of the SAEF Provincial Forum, Stephen Heath and Carol Wyrill represented the horse riding community of our province at a meeting held in Johannesburg on the 12 July 2014. The meeting was chaired by Mr Mubarak Mohamed, board member of SASCOC (which is the overarching body appointed by National Government of South Africa to govern sport in our country) and chair of its dispute and ethics committee. To put it bluntly, when it comes to dispute in sport in South Africa, the buck stops with Mr Mohamed and, on the 12 July, Mr Mohamed stopped the buck in equestrian sport... a buck that was bolting. Although everyone was given the opportunity to comment and to contribute and fine tune the constitution that was adopted on the 12 July, the emphasis was on an explanation of how it would be, with little room for debate. Government has stepped in and has told us that this is how equestrian sport in SA will be administered and governed. Period! The improvement in the structure is that the national federation constitution has been written in favour of the athlete (i.e. you, the rider!) rather than the administrator and the way in which we have been told the constitution will be interpreted will always favour you, the athlete; in his own words: the athlete comes first. It is designed to increase access to the sport by the people. There will be no place for personal agendas, or, again in the words of Mr Mohamed trouble makers will be eliminated. The regional and provincial bodies will include all equestrian disciplines and not just the those that used to form part of the SAEA. This is how our sport will look going forward: National and provincial structures: • There will be one national federation, SAEF. This federation will administer all equestrian sport in SA. • The national structure will have nine members (each province will be a member). The national council of SAEF will be made up of a representative from each province, plus an executive of four elected members and two members representing the athletes. All provinces will have equal voting rights irrespective of size and shape. • The national provincial representative will be voted for by the regions in each province. In KZN we have eleven regions, which consist of all eleven major municipalities. • The clubs within each of these regions will vote for a regional representative (i.e. one person who will represent the members from all the clubs in that region on the Provincial Council). A list of the KZN regions appears at the end of this email. • The KZN Provincial Council will consist of one representative from each region in the province, all with an equal vote; its president will have a seat on the National Council mentioned above. • There will be no Discipline Associations. The SAEF will have National Technical Sub-Committees, each with a portfolio that will be responsible for the rules, regulations, and all technical aspects for each code at a national level. These sub-committees will be replicated on a provincial level (just as we have now) and at a club level (if the club so wishes). Clubs, membership, membership fees and access to the disciplines: • All members will access the sport by joining a club. You may join any club of your choice in your region - but there is nothing stopping you from joining a club elsewhere in the country if you have good reason to do so. For example, if there is no club or the club in the region does not offer the disciplines in which you want to participate or if the athletes participation in the sport is compromised in anyway because of political or geographic location of their home/club etc, then you can access the sport through other clubs in other regions (with dispensation from the provincial body) or even in other provinces (with dispensation from the national body). • Members of a club will have access to ALL the disciplines offered by that club - you will not have to join multiple disciplines. • All clubs will be encouraged to offer multiple disciplines (this does not mean that they have to offer the facilities for all disciplines – it is accepted that you may use personal or riding school facilities to train and specialist competition venues to compete) If your club does not offer a discipline that you want to participate in then you can access that discipline via other clubs that do offer it. • The member will pay a single annual membership fee; period! This fee will be paid to the club. Built into the club fee will be an affiliation fee (this fee still needs to be determined) - our next hurdle is to ensure that the cost does not prevent riders from participating. The club will pay 50% of the affiliation fee to the SAEF national body and 50% to the provincial body (so the province will have funds to administer the sport locally, as we did previously). Children and schools league: • Schools league will fit into this structure as an Associate Member of SAEF and will continue to operate as it has always done. Scholars can represent their school and do not have to belong to a club or affiliate to do so. • If a scholar wants to participate in mainstream competition and represent their province or country outside of schools league, then they must join a club and affiliate (as it is at the moment). • Minors should not be charged an affiliation fee to enter the mainstream competition - all children must have access to all disciplines. In Mr Mohameds own words A child is an asset of the state... and ... we do not charge our own children in our homes for food, do we? Regions in KZN - The system going forward will encourage multiple clubs in each region. The clubs in each regions will vote for one person who will represent all the clubs in that region on the Provincial Council. The regions (and composition of the Provincial body) will be as follows: Umgungundlovu Pietermaritzburg Ethekwini Durban Ugu Port Shepstone Uthukela Ladysmith Umzinyathi Dundee Amajuba Newcastle Zululand Ulundi Umkhanyakude Mtubatuba UThungulu Richards Bay iLembe Kwa Dukuza Sisonke Ixopo This new system is designed to increase accessibility of the sport to the people - and not to promote membership in any one club. Remember, that if clubs tow the line, they stand to gain access to other forms of income, viz government funding through Dept. of Sports and Recreation.... potentially very large funds. How do the current provincial discipline committees fit into the system going forward? – The Provincial Council will appoint a subcommittee that deals with technical discipline associated matters in the province. This sub-committee will be made up of the elected chairs of the provincial discipline committees. The discipline committees in turn will do all the management of their sector of the sport as they have always done. This final change in structure should be to the benefit of our sport and it will ensure that the riders are looked after. If we follow this course and structure throughout the country and if we put effort into transforming our sport, then government will provide funding for the clubs. Mr Mohamed sited a few examples. There is a lot of government money available for sport and if we cooperate we will be able to access it. Grant Ketterinham is tasked with facilitating the process of managing the change in KZN as there will have to be new elections at all levels from regional to national under the new constitution. It is imperative for our sport that the right people be elected, so make sure you are part of the process.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 13:01:36 +0000
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