A plea has been made to leaders of government business to fast-track the approval of the Drug-Free Amendment Bill to appease the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) non-compliance declaration against South Africa.
Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa announced during a briefing yesterday that following the approval by the Cabinet on October 4 to approve the onward process of the draft bill, he had made a “special request” for the bill to be fast-tracked through the parliamentary system.
Kodwa said they were relieved that the bill would be subjected to the scrutiny of the state law advisers, and were confident that WADA would recognise the efforts as a commitment to pass their mandate legislation and hopefully suspend the non-compliance declaration.
In September, South Africa and Bermuda were declared as non-compliant by WADA due to a failure to appropriately implement the new code into their legal systems.
The signatories were afforded 21 days after the date of receipt of the formal notice of non-compliance, which expires on October 14, to dispute WADA’s assertion, as well as the consequences and the reinstatement conditions proposed by the agency.
The agency’s revised policy came into effect on January 1, 2021.
“The responsibility weighed heavily on our shoulders as we have the Springboks and Proteas men competing in world cups in France and India respectively,” Kodwa said.
Alongside his process, the minister explained that the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) would also file a notice to challenge WADA’s compliance declaration against South Africa through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“I believe the grounds for appeal are strong and that the sanctions are not appropriate.
“The sanctions as they pertain to the flying of the national flag have created unnecessary hysteria and unfairly punished athletes and players who are competing for the pride of our nation South Africa.
“The filing of appeal will therefore stall the consequences of non-compliance as it applies to the flying of South Africa’s flag at regional, continental and world championships and events organised by major event organisations. This means the flying of South Africa’s flag at events at the cricket and Rugby World Cup will not be affected until CAS rules on this challenge,” Kodwa added.
Khalid Galant, chief executive officer at SAIDS, said notice regarding the looming declaration was received in October 2022, with the country having already started working on the sports integrity legislation.
Galant further explained that this was followed with a public consultation meeting in November of the same year after notice was given to the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and the government.
He said that had the process of the sports integrity legislation been approved it would have resulted in South Africa being compliant with the code and other global sports prescripts; however, WADA was not prepared to accept the country’s requirement for public consultations.
“We want to find a permanent solution and there are several provisions that must be met and the approval by Cabinet is an important first step. We simply cannot escape the public participation process because that is a key tenet of our democracy,” added Kodwa.