Mkasi wins KZNA elections says new board will bring the change that is needed

Newly elected KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) President Steve Mkasi says they face an uphill battle to restore the organisation's tarnished image. The regional athletics federation had been without a leader for two years after Sello Mokoena vacated the president's office in 2019 and Athletics South Africa (ASA) decided to place the provincial sports administration body under administration. Mkasi says the new board which was elected at the weekend must be united in order to start implementing what was promised in the election manifesto. He says it's a great privilege to be trusted with to lead.

"I feel honoured to be given the opportunity to lead again," explained an elated Mkasi during our telephonic conversation. "I must work hard to make sure that all the dreams I had for KwaZulu-Natal Athletics come true. All the solutions I thought of over the years, I must start to deliver them to the people. It's a big responsibility that comes with its own challenges. But I think I have a good team of both experienced and new people on the board who bring different skills. If we can manage to harmonize those skills then we'll be untouchable," he said.

One of those team members is Martin Ngwenya who was voted in as chairperson of the Athletes' Commission. The Mr. Price Sport Maxed Elite Running Manager feels similarly honoured to speak on behalf of the provinces athletes. "It is a great pleasure to be elected as a chairperson of AC. The first issue we need to look into is how to have more races now just like Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) is doing. We also need to look at entry fees because there are lots of new races coming in and when we look at some of them we see that the entry fee is too high," said Ngwenya.

These are just some of the items on Mkasi and his team's to-do list. The man who is who is also a Comrades Marathon board member thinks his efforts in trying to bring change to the regional federation can only be judged after his first 100 days in office. But he has already started to hold meetings to put the work into place.

"Usually people start to count 100 days in the office," said Mkasi who is a founder of Phuma Athletics Club. "I think we must be measured with what we can achieve in the first 100 days in the office. I'm having a meeting with Track & Field Chairperson (Khura Buthelezi) in Cape Town tomorrow. We will discuss the manifesto and he must go back to his committee to start to align with things in it. So each and every commission must look closely at the manifesto to make sure we make everything noted therein becomes a success."