DA writes to Speaker of Parliament requesting investigation into Butana Komphela's conduct in portfolio committee
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today written to the Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, calling for an investigation into the unacceptable conduct of the chairperson of the portfolio committee on sports, Mr. Butana Komphela. This follows the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee's (SASCOC) decision to boycott the portfolio committee on account of Komphela's behaviour.
SASCOC's decision reflects on the whole the sports community's displeasure with the racially-divisive leadership of Butana Komphela. Since assuming the chairmanship of the committee he has been more concerned with engaging in the character assassination of sports leaders for quotas rather than promoting the development of sports in South Africa.
It is unsurprising that sports federations have resolved to snub the portfolio committee because of Komphela's intolerable conduct. There is sufficient evidence to corroborate SASCOC's assertion that Komphela ‘behaves like somebody who has lost perspective with the limits of his power'. In fact, it appears Kompela has never had a clear understanding of his role in sports. His racist remarks have not only brought embarrassment to sports in South Africa, but they have also denigrated the integrity of Parliament. Below are some incidents which display his inept leadership of the portfolio committee on sports.
- In April 2007, he threatened to withhold the passports of the Springbok team travelling to the Rugby World Cup ‘if the team is not representative';
- In February 2008, he launched a scathing attack on Cricket SA general manager, Gerald Majola over racial quotas in the Proteas team, despite the fact that the Minister of Sport & Recreation had announced that quotas have no place in sports;
- In May 2008, he said that ‘the population of this country is 80:20 or 90:10. Black people in this country can't be lesser than 80% and so should be the reflection of every South African team';
- Komphela regularly treats opposition MPs with disdain and disrespect, as was demonstrated in May 2008 during a Sport & Recreation Portfolio Committee meeting, when he attempted to intimidate me physically for differing with him;
- Last week he said that ‘SA's Olympic governing body is full of whites and Indians who don't understand transformation and who lack vision for it';
While spending much of his time on a continued racial rampage, Komphela has paid less attention to good governance matters in sports. He has been trying to shield Athletics South Africa (ASA) boss, Leonard Chuene, from accounting to SASCOC for the mismanagement of ASA's funds.
He has failed to summon the department of sport to appear before the portfolio committee to explain paying bonuses worth over a R1 million to its level 12 staff, despite the Ministry of Public Administration's rejection of the proposal to do so. He has also failed to call upon the department to explain the cancellation of the national schools aquatics championships in February without any concrete reasons.
South Africa has come a long way in its efforts to build a non-racial society, and Butana Komphela's racially-divisive behaviour has no place in our democracy. The Speaker must therefore take action against him, and consolidate the commitment to non-racialism in South Africa.
Statement issued by Donald Lee MP, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on Sport & Recreation, July 21 2008
