“Bringing the Storm: A Fierce Arrival Ahead!”

Swimming South Africa (SSA) has faced substantial criticism for contentious actions taken during 2024, yet it seems that the organization is on the verge of a transformation this year.

Gayton McKenzie, the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture in South Africa, has officially announced plans to instigate change within the SSA after its executive committee prolonged their tenure in violation of its constitution.

In August 2024, multiple SSA members, including President Alan Fritz (running unopposed) and Vice President Jace Naidoo were re-elected, surpassing the allowed maximum three-year term specified by the SSA constitution.

In an interview with South African outlet The Daily Maverick, McKenzie expressed firm opinions regarding the SSA.

“Regarding swimming, I am approaching this like a thunderstorm,” he remarked, according to The Daily Maverick.

“It appears individuals have renewed their contracts – such nonsense will not transpire this year. I will not tolerate that nonsense; it’s utter rubbish. There are individuals manipulating the constitution. I am coming for them, and I am coming fiercely.

“In the first week of February [I’m coming for them].”

Fritz has held various positions within the SSA executive committee since 2004, amounting to five consecutive terms. As he prepares to commence another term as President in 2025 (an additional four years), he will have twice the maximum number of terms stipulated by the constitution.

“The term of office for all Executive Members shall be limited to three consecutive terms,” Article 6.2.3 of the SSA constitution specifies.

Naidoo has been part of the executive committee since the SSA was unified in 1999, having acted as President from 2004 until 2016, and Vice President since 2016.

The Daily Maverick highlights that the SSA has attempted to exploit loopholes within its constitution to maintain the same executive committee intact, “transitioning members from one role to another after a third term in a single position.”

As the Minister of Sport, McKenzie possesses the power to enforce changes he deems necessary by initiating a commission of inquiry, according to the National Sport and Recreation Act of 1998.

However, if World Aquatics interprets McKenzie’s actions as interference in the SSA’s workings, it may lead to the suspension of the SSA’s membership.

McKenzie has urged the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) to take measures regarding the SSA.

“They have strived diligently to alter the composition of Sascoc,” McKenzie informed The Daily Maverick. “You cannot permit the individuals of Swimming [SA] to modify the constitution without facing repercussions.

“There will be serious consequences; hold me accountable for that.”

One of the controversies the SSA was involved in last year was compelling the withdrawal of the South African water polo teams from the Olympic Games, despite them having fulfilled the official qualification criteria (and not achieving SSA’s internal requirements), which contributed to several top players opting out of the World Aquatics World Cup.

Legal disputes have also arisen from an artistic swimming duo who assert that the SSA denied them an opportunity to qualify for the Olympics, along with the parents of a junior diver alleging the federation unjustly excluded their child from the World Aquatics Junior Diving Championships.

Both instances led to the artistic swimmers and the parent receiving suspension from SSA membership due to a section of the SSA Constitution stating: “Any members resorting to court/legal action to resolve a dispute will automatically cease to be a member.”

In December, SSA acknowledged that the clause was “erroneous” and indicated it would be revised.