The bickering among stakeholders will not lead to South Africans being denied the opportunity to witness the highly-anticipated 2023 Soweto Marathon.
This is the assurance given by Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) general manager Mandla Radebe amid a scandal surrounding this year’s edition of the People’s Race.
CGA recently revealed that the race, scheduled for November 5, would go ahead, contrary to reports it would be canned.
The controversial internal squabbles among the organisers appear to be rearing their ugly head again this year.
Last year’s race was overshadowed by a TV blackout after stakeholders could not bury their differences.
A dispute by the Soweto Marathon Trust (SMT), which questioned the broadcast rights deal Athletics SA had with pay channel SuperSport, led to the race not being televised.
According to Radebe, “a few disgruntled members of the SMT were just trying to hold the marathon to ransom to fight their person battles”.
The members, including trust chairman Sello Khunou, general secretary Ishe Sadike and board member Pamela Tainton, have been suspended.
“This race is dubbed the People’s Race for a reason; it belongs to the people. The Soweto running clubs are the rightful custodians and not a few individuals,” Radebe told Sunday World.
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