South African boxing’s Olympic dreams hang in the balance as the country’s amateur governing body is yet to join World Boxing (WB), unlike some of the country’s continental neighbours who have already jumped ship.
SA National Boxing Organisation (Sanabo) denied that it was delaying the decision as it continues to stay loyal to the International Boxing Association (IBA), which has been stripped of the right to oversee boxing at the Olympics.
Sanabo vice-president Lwandiso Kwababana said the body was still finalising the process to affiliate to WB, with a decision expected to be made within a month.
However, Sanabo has consistently honoured IBA events, including attending its congress held jointly with the World Men’s Youth Championships in Dubai in December.
“We have just come back from the IBA congress in Dubai and we are busy with final modalities for national federation registrations,” Kwababana said.
However, the body has received a wave of pleas from concerned boxing people to speed up the process after its meeting with Boxing SA at the weekend.
Kwababana said the meeting attended by Sanabo top brass and BSA chief executive Tsholofelo Lejaka was aimed at fostering working relations between the two bodies.
“We identified areas of common interest and committed to work in collaboration, such as in gymnasiums and clubs shared by both professional and amateur boxers,” he said.
“The next step will be a meeting with the BSA board to review the memorandum of understanding.”
But the meeting was overshadowed by people pleading for facilitation of affiliation to the WB on social media.
Sanabo has committed to fast-tracking the process, as one of the resolutions taken at its elective congress in August was to follow other Southern African countries that have already crossed over to WB.
The International Olympic Committee gave WB a provisional right last February to oversee boxing at the 2028 Los Angeles Games after suspending the IBA at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games before stripping the Russian-backed body at the Covid-delayed 2022 Tokyo Games.
Several countries have already joined WB to realise their boxers’ Olympic dreams, with Eswatini and Lesotho the latest to do so in December.
One social media user under the name Lance Gibson implored Sanabo to join WB as soon as possible to be on time to send boxers to the Youth Olympic qualifiers in Hong Kong in March.
“If we are serious about winning medals at LA 2028, we need to start by sending a youth team to this tournament,” Gibson said.
Another social media user under Lawrence Baird, who claimed to have been elected to the committee to set up a roadmap to meet sports minister Gayton McKenzie about representation at LA 2028, pleaded with Sanabo for an update about the matter.
“Can Sanabo keep us informed at the current stage, please?”
SA has sent no boxers to the Olympics since Duncan Village’s Ayabonga Sonjica and Siphiwe Lusizi of Mdantsane represented the country at the 2012 London Games.