Wishing all a Merry Festive Season.

For many people, COVID-19 dashed their dreams as lockdown, financial hardship, and genneral uncertainty robbed them of their hopes and dreams.

Even though Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) also bore the brunt of the pandemic, MSSA's Board rallied round to continue to deliver to its members and Registered Players.

Thus in 2020, MSSA still held all its provincial esports championships, albeit as online events, and will still able to select national squads.

Even though there is no guarantee that the pandemic will ease in 2021, MSSA has applied its collective minds in order to have a strategy so that it can even better deliver to its member clubs and Registered Players.

Thus, MSSA wishes all associated to MSSA a truly Blessed Festive Season where all can rest securely and prepare themselves for an action packed 2021.

Also read:

• Advantages of affiliation
• Calendar of  Events: 2021
• Upcoming events: South African National Board Games Championships - 12 December 2020.
• Affiliation: Schools
• Affiliation: Private clubs
• Esports titles selected: MSSA's High School Championships.
• Esports titles selected: MSSA's Premier Championships.
• Notices: MSSA's new Players' Representative - Jessie Joubert (ZAG Academy
• Notices: 2020 Management Board Awards
• Results of MSSA's 10th Annual Online Championships for High Schools
• Results of MSSA's Western Cape Online Provincial Championships.
• Results: MSSA's 11th Provincial Online Championships
• Results: Gauteng Online Provincial Championships.
• Results: Winners of MSSA's 34th S A National Championships.
• Results: Saudah takes SA Nationals for the third time in a row.
• Test Match results: South African Protea DotA 2 team rises triumphant.
• Test Match results: DOTA2: South Africa vs Azerbaijan
• New National Team Selection Criteria
• Selecting the national Protea teams for Mind Sports South Africa.

Massive change to MSSA's Regional Championships.

South Africa has 56 regions within the nine provinces. The districts are the municipal districts as defined by the South African government. The Minister of Sport and Recreation considers growth at the Regions as vital to the growth of sport in South Africa as a whole.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) totally subscribes to the view expressed by the Minister in this regard.

Thus MSSA has implemented the policy of holding Regional Championships. It is hoped that the Regional Championships will be expanded to each and every region in the country, as the championships will undoubtedly help:

1. Strengthen clubs that are in each region,
2. Encourage clubs to grow in regions that as yet do not have member clubs, and
3. Allow a greater base of players to participate in official MSSA championships without having to travel vast distances.

Thus, considering that Regional Championships are to be used as a vehicle to increase MSSA's footprint across the country, MSSA has decided that for the remainder of the year any player (whether affiliated or not to a member club) be allowed to enter any MSSA Regional Championship subject to an additional payment of R20.00 per player per game, and on completing (in its entirety) an 'Associate Player Registration Form'. .

Such decision will allow such gamers to win medals, and to earn Regional Colours, but will not extend to any other benefit of membership such as qualifying for National team Trials, voting rights, and so forth.

Also, such additional payment shall not be retained by the host club, but shall be paid by such host club directly into MSSA's bank account.

SRSA's 2015 Indigenous Games

Despite the millions of rands expended by SRSA on the 2015 Indigenous Games, the games went off barely being noticed by the press and citizens of South Africa.

SRSA's website advertising the event captured 0n 24/9/2015

The games were apparently held somewhere up in Pretoria from 18th September to 24 September (according to SRSA's website).

Theoretically, in terms of the law, SRSA is supposed to run the championships strictly to the National Federation's rules.

But do they?

As far as I am aware, SRSA and MSSA are at odds over the event. SRSA apparently does not use accepted rules and as such gamers that participate in SRSA's event are excluded from recognition for Morabaraba at Regional, Provincial and National level.

A sad state of affairs.

From POWERFM's website

However, back to 2015. I then see today that the dear Minister (Fikile Mbabula) was interviewed on "POWER98.7" on 17 September 2015, wherein he stated " the City of Polokwane  hosting the week’s long programme of events from the 20th to the 24th of September 2015."

So, if you are interested in going to watch this spectacle, where would you go - Pretoria or Polokwane?

And when does it start? A two day difference is really quite a lot!

I suppose at least they got the final date correct - I mean that is when they will have their award ceremony and of course, no doubt, the usual closing ceremony.

It is always interesting to see how taxpayer money is 'spent'.

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!"

As in the past when only the MSSA would stand up in SASCOC meetings and vote against unsound policies, it seems as though only the MSSA is speaking out against the Minister's proposed amendments to the Sport and Recreation Act.

In a recent press release by the MSSA, which was also apparently sent directly to the Minister, the MSSA stated:

“In short it is hard to believe that any lawyers actually wrote such amendments.

The grammar is poor, the concepts vague, in places in direct  conflict with the country's constitution, encroaching on the  powers of other legislation and ministries, and at times      totally devoid of any meaningful definitions.

It is safe to say that many International Federations will at least 
baulk at the level of government interference that will be the result of 
these amendments. At the worst, such International Federations will 
cease to have anything to do with South African National Federations 
should these amendments come into play.

Also, as an unexpected outcome of such amendments, whereby both 
administrators and athletes shall be criminalised, I expect here to be a 
mass exodus of both from the sporting arena, which in turn, should shut 
down most of the codes in the country.

Is that really what SRSA wants?

It is thus the MSSA's opinion that the proposed amendments be thrown 
back to the Ministry and reworked.”

It is also believed that the MSSA has sent the comments to each and every National Federation in the country, as well as to SASCOC, in order to make them aware of the changes and to make them aware of the effect that the amendments will have on all sport in South Africa.

So, again, the MSSA like a noble knight upon a white charger, defends the many when those who are far more capable, in terms of manpower, resources, etc., choose to remain silent!

The full MSSA comment on the proposed amendments may be found on http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/The-MSSAs-comment-on-proposed-changes-to-the-national-sports-and-recreation-act-20150727

Confused by sports law - then read this!

Employees of Sport and Recreation South Africa: 

It is often said that South Africa law is becoming too complicated. This is debatable, it certainly seems to be proving a challenge for the Minister of Sport and Recreation and his department.

Let’s start by sketching some background. The Companies Act, 2008 provides for the creation of a company known as a Non Profit Company (also known as an NPC). (The equivalent provision in old Companies Act was the Association Not For Gain or s 21 Company.)

The Non-Profit Organisations Act, 1997 on the other hand deals with the registration and regulation of Non-Profit Organisations (or NPOs). NPOs are in many cases voluntary associations which are registered in terms of the Act.

They are completely types of organisations and are dealt with differently. There are even different government departments which look after them.

There is no provision in the Companies Act for a company to become a Non-Profit Organisation (and vice versa). The Companies Act only provides for a company, under very narrow circumstances, to become a Co-operative, but other than there is no provision in that Act for a company to become something other than another type of company.

There’s a good reason for that – a member of the public dealing with a company needs to know who they are dealing with. If the company is allowed to chop and change what type of legal entity they are there would be no protection for creditors, etc. You enter into a contract with a company based on the provisions of the Companies Act and suddenly you find it is no longer registered with the CIPC because it has decided to become something else with different rules applying. You may not have entered into the contract if you knew the organisation was not a company.

It is also important to understand that if a Company is wound up in terms of the Companies Act it is dissolved and ceases to exist. If a new organisation starts up using the same name, it cannot be regarded as the same organisation.

To give an example, ABC Company employs staff and is registered for Income Tax, VAT, Employees’ Tax, etc and has all the relevant registration numbers. The owners decide to wind up and start over again as DEF Company. They have to retrench their staff, pay off any debts, and have the company deregistered. Then they have to register with SARS all over again as DEF Company. They also aren’t the employers of the staff at ABC Company. That all seems obvious.

The only way ABC can transfer everything to DEF is to pay all of ABC’s debts, transfer all left over assets to DEF, transfer the staff to DEF in terms of the Labour Relations Act, and then close ABC down. It is not possible for ABC to transfer it’s debts to the DEF without all the creditors’ agreement. Also, any court cases with which ABC is involved will end with its dissolution, unless the court grants it leave to substitute DEF as a new party in its place.

Any properly trained lawyer will tell you this. But it seems the Minister (Fikile Mbalula) and his department (SRSA) do not have access to any of them. Or at least his response to a question asked in Parliament by Mr MS Malatsi (DA) last year would indicate that to be the case.

When asked where he was aware that the non-profit company of SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) had indicated its dissolution in its 2014 financial statements, the Minister responded that he and his department were “fully aware that SASCOC was converting from an NPO (sic) registered in terms of the Companies Act to a Voluntary Association” and further that “the SASCOC membership took a resolution at its Special General meeting on 9^th November 2013 to dissolve the NPO (sic) SASCOC as of the 31^st March 2014 and adopted a constitution and the formation of SASCOC as Voluntary Association. The Assets and Liabilities of the NPO SASCOC will be transferred to SASCOC the Voluntary Association.”

As we have seen, an NPO is registered in terms of the Non-Profit Organisations Act, and not the Companies Act. SASCOC is also a Non Profit Company, not an NPO.

There seems to be no consideration of the fact that debts can’t just be transferred. Otherwise anyone could just call a bank up and tell them that they have transferred their overdraft to their friend. Try that and see how far you’d get.

In response to further questions the Minister clearly refers to SASCOC NPC being wound up in terms of s 80(2) of the Companies Act.

But the Minister further states that a body called SASCOC is still recognised as the macro sports body, claiming that it is still in existence as a voluntary association now and no longer a company. As we have seen, once a company deregisters it ceases to exist and any new organisation has to start from scratch. It is not the same organisation.

This, of course, has far reaching consequences, which need to be dealt with otherwise it will create a legal headache in years to come.

Since a company cannot ‘convert’ to a voluntary association, if SASCOC has formed itself as a new organisation it will have to have done, at the very least, the following:

• Registered afresh with the tax authorities.
• Signed new leases on all property and equipment it rents.
• Transferred all its staff from the company to the association, in terms of the Labour Relations Act.
• Settled all its debts or obtained the agreement of its creditors to allow the new organisation to accept the liability to pay the debt.
• Terminated any court cases with which it is involved or obtained the leave of the court to substitute the new organisation in place of the company. It is known that SASCOC NPC is involved with several court case, including a high profile defamation case against Graeme Joffe. With SASCOC NPC dissolving, that will have to end, as it is inconceivable that someone can sue for defamation on behalf of someone else.
• Asked the Minister to end the recognition of SASCOC NPC as the macro sports body in terms of the National Sports and Recreation Act and recognise the new body in its place.

The Minister and his department, and SASCOC (whether the company or the voluntary association), seem to burying their heads in the sand and not dealing with a legal dilemma they have created by the hasty decision to deregister as a company, after they found the provisions of the Companies Act to be too onerous. If nothing is done to correct the mistaken which have been and are being made, future generations of sportspeople and administrators could find themselves paying for them.

As a matter of interest, SASCOC NPC is still registered with the CIPC as being in business, over year after it was supposed to be wound up. Even more interestingly, SASCOC was registered as a Non-Profit Organisation on 25 April 2006 and is still registered. So we have a SASCOC which is an NPC, one which is an NPO and one which is a voluntary association. Confused? You are not the only one.

Quotas out - transformation is in!

Xola Magwaza at the 2009 IeSF Challenge

It was pleasing to see that the Sports Minister, the Hon. Fikile Mbabula backed down on the issue of quotas.

Quotas are a very dirty word for many people in South Africa.

Even a recent South African court case declared quotas to be illegal in business,

However, even with the Minister back-tracking on the issues of quotas, the Minister, and SASCOC, are dedicated to the issue of transformation.

Of course, transformation does not just apply to the sporting teams, but to the entire structure of the sports code from the athletes, coaches, technical officials, and administrators.

This of course, poses various problems for the sporting codes as most coaches, technical officials, and administrators are in fact volunteers.

Volunteers are, as we all know, people who do something for free out of the love and passion that they have for the game. Without the volunteers in any sports structure, the federations themselves will surely buckle under the weight of having to find additional resources to pay those who demand to be paid for the jobs that volunteers are doing for free.

Thus in a volunteer organisation, it seems as though transformation will be a slower process as it will take time to develop the ethos of volunteerism?

I do not believe so!

Sporting bodies are no different to churches. Churches often survive in the most adverse of conditions. Churches survive without government aid and purely upon the contributions of the membership. The contributions consist of financial, time, effort and skills.

It all depends in what you really believe, and what you

want to see happen.

For the members of a church group, of any religion, it is the promotion of their beliefs.

Why then do gamers shy away from the same level commitment in promoting eSports? After all more gamers put more time into gaming than into any other activity that they do. Gamers get far more pleasure out of eSports than from any other activity. Gamers should then treat gaming as if it were there religion and put more back.

With more volunteers from across the board, total transformation will be achieved very quickly indeed, and we can then all move on from worrying about politics and getting down to the business at hand, and that is, playing the game!