Uncertainty still clouds the African Bank Soweto Marathon just six weeks before it's set to take place.
Yesterday, members of the Soweto Marathon Trust (SMT) reiterated the race – set for November 29 at Nasrec – won't happen, claiming victory from last week's court ruling which heard deliberations about who has the right to stage the race.
While the SMT held a press briefing yesterday claiming to have been vindicated by the Protea magistrate's court, the newly established Soweto Marathon Non-Profit Company (NPC) insists it has full rights to arrange the popular event and declared it "well and truly on track".
The NPC said Soweto athletics clubs applied for a court interdict seeking relief that members of the SMT, who were expelled amid allegations of embezzlement of funds, be directed from associating themselves with the event and from "presenting false and misleading information".
The NPC received a backing of Central Athletics Gauteng (CGA), which in a statement on Tuesday said it will no longer recognise the SMT. "CGA has no alternative but to confirm it can no longer be seen to be recognising the SMT as host of the Soweto Marathon until all the governance issues are resolved," the statement said.
The race is not going to happen and I'm inviting you [media] to come and see for yourself what is going to happen. We are not going to disclose to you now,
— Stan Itshegetseng, Soweto Marathon Trust spokesperson
But SMT spokesperson Stan Itshegetseng, who CGA says is suspended and should not be commenting on the Soweto Marathon, said the race should only legally be staged by the trust. He claimed it has been hijacked by the NPC established by the former organisers after SMT's bank accounts were frozen in 2023.
"The race is not going to happen and I'm inviting you [media] to come and see for yourself what is going to happen. We are not going to disclose to you now," Itshegetseng said in Johannesburg yesterday.
"The stealing of our race and for it to be sanctioned by people who don't own it, it is not going to happen. Whoever is saying the race is going to happen doesn't own it."
Asked if they were not inconveniencing the runners who have already paid for their entries, Itshegetseng said: "If the race goes ahead, they [runners] must wait for an announcement from SMT. If the SMT has not announced, this race is not going to happen," he said.
But the NPC said there was no court victory for the SMT. "It is unfortunate that the matter was decided on a technical basis and has left room for the individuals to continue with their propaganda. The court made no ruling on the merits of the matter. The court case was not to determine who should organise the race," the NPC's statement said.
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