South African sport has been hit with another telling blow, as South African Sports Confederation, Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SASCOC) president Barry Hendricks has been suspended with immediate effect.
In an official notice sent to its membership on Wednesday evening, SASCOC confirmed that following a Special Board Meeting, the executive team resolved to “suspend the President, Mr Barry Hendricks, from exercising his presidential functions with immediate effect.”
According to the letter, Hendricks was sidelined under internal governance protocols following anonymous complaints alleging breaches of the organization’s Safeguarding Policy and Codes Handbook.
The board appointed retired Judge Basheer Waglay to investigate the claims, with his report determining sufficient prima facie evidence exists to warrant referral to the SASCOC Judicial Body.
SASCOC emphasized in the statement that the suspension is purely a procedural step to “protect the integrity and independence of the process,” adding that “everybody is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
First Vice-President Ms Lwandile Simelane has stepped up to perform presidential functions to ensure leadership continuity, with SASCOC noting the matter is now sub judice and that it will make no further public comment while internal proceedings are underway.
This executive fallout arrives amidst widespread chaos within Swimming South Africa, which was thrown into turmoil following the provisional suspensions of president Alan Fritz and CEO Shaun Adriaanse over alleged abuse of power and falsifying official documents.
Compounding matters, the swimming federation remains locked in a legal dispute with Tatjana Smith, South Africa’s most decorated Olympic champion, alongside an unresolved breakdown with South Africa Water Polo.
