KZN athletics coach gets the boot

KZN Athletics’ head coach - hired last year to identify and train young, talented athletes into potential Olympians - has been suspended and subsequently fired from his post.

Durban - KwaZulu-Natal Athletics’ head coach – hired last year to identify and train young, talented athletes into potential Olympians – has been suspended and subsequently fired from his post, allegedly for reporting that some of the athletes were being ill-treated at the home where they were staying.

Marc Labuschagne has lodged an unfair labour practice complaint against the KwaZulu-Natal Athletics Association in the CCMA for his suspension and, eight weeks later, his dismissal with no hearing.

Labuschagne, a teacher, gave up his job as director of sport at Glenwood High School to take up the three-year contract in February last year. He identified 17 teenagers from schools around the province as potential provincial, national and international athletes. Five of them were from poor rural areas and were housed at the elite athletes house in Glenwood and sent to local schools.

The youngest was 15.

According to documents seen by The Mercury, Rohini Naidoo, head of the provincial Department of Sports and Recreation, called a special meeting in early March this year after hearing about allegations being made by the children of abuse by their house mother.Naidoo asked Labuschagne - as head coach - to attend the meeting.

Sources said KZN Athletics chairman Sello Mokoena took umbrage to at this, claiming it was not a departmental meeting but a KZN Athletics meeting. About a week later, while he was sitting on the stands at the provincial junior championships, Labuschagne was handed a letter of “precautionary suspension”, alleging misconduct and referring to interviews conducted by departmental officials with the five affected children during a training session.

The letter states that he “unlawfully facilitated access to children in the care of unauthorised persons”, that he failed to ensure that “unauthorised persons did not gain access to the children while under his watch”, and that he “allowed himself to be invited by outside stakeholders to an official KZN Athletics Manco meeting to discuss matters unrelated to both your area of responsibility as well as your line function”.

Wrangling

Labuschagne’s attorney, Mark Futcher, said told the Mercury thathis client believed he had become the victim of politics – wrangling between the department and KZN Athletics, and an internal fight between Mokoena and his deputy, Leroy Newton, an athlete who wasonce coached by Labuschagne.

His removal from his post also left the young athletes rudderless for several crucial weeks, resulting in some not achieving their potential.”My client wrote to KZN Athletics denying the charges against himand expressing concern about the effect on the athletes and the fact that they would soon be competing in national champs.

But there was no response.

And he was never given an opportunity to defend himself.” In the meantime the provincial department issued an ultimatum to KZN Athletics to attend to the allegations of abuse, and through its attorney it (KZN Athletics then conducted an “in-depth internal inquiry”.

A written report summarising the findings states that the young female athletes were very unhappy and wanted to leave the house because the housemother called them ugly and insulted them. She had stopped cooking for them and once left them alone from Sunday to Tuesday.

The housemother, the report said, had no experience for the job and had received no training, including how to cook for athletes. She had confirmed the relationship between her and children was not good because they were rude and insulting to her. She confirmed she called them ugly “brought on by verbal spats”, and that she did not cook, “usually when there is no food in the house”.

The attorneys cautioned KZN Athletics that it had removed the children from their homes and it had a “much greater responsibility to do everything necessary and contractually to ensure that these kids are cared for, nurtured and developed”. However, they said there was no evidence of “serious abuse”, recommending that the children’s needs be assessed by a counsellor and a sports dietician and that a suitable housemother, with proper experience, be hired.

In a letter to Naidoo, KZN Athletics office manager Goodman Cele said the report showedas showing “internal weaknesses which are operational of nature... not uncommon in programmes of this nature”. In a letter dated early May, Mokoena refers to the “slander and disinformation campaign”, naming Lee-Roy Newton as one of those behind this.

Mokoena declined to comment to The Mercury: “Except to mention that results show a massive improvement in governance, financial and operational aspects of the provincial federation in the past four years, kindly note that I’m not at liberty to discuss internal KZN Athletics matters in public”.

Newton and Naidoo did not respond at all to questions sent to them. Labuschagne’s CCMA hearing takes place later this month.

tania.broughton@inl.co.za

The Mercury