DURBAN – Netball South Africa president Cecilia Molokwane recently conquered the coronavirus and is ready to demonstrate that power and strength by reigning supreme in the Sascoc presidential elections.
Molokwane will contest the Sascoc elections against Athletics South Africa president Aleck Skhosana, Free State Rugby president Jerry Segwaba and Northern Cape Sports Federation head Farrell Moses.
The elections were set to take place in March but were postponed.
Molokwane carries some clout on her CV as the reigning SA Administrator of the Year and having been part of the administrative team that was in charge during the Proteas netball team’s rise in the last couple of years.
Following her recovery from the deadly Covid-19 virus, Molokwane is now firmly focussed on the Sascoc top job.
“In a nutshell, I’ll say it is a nightmare,” she said of her encounter with the virus.
“My mind wasn’t working at that time. I wasn’t in a normal situation, I was stressed and depressed. When they tell you that you have Covid-19, it is a very strenuous thing. The first question that comes to your mind is, ‘I’m dying because you see people dying every day in the USA, Italy and China’.
“This pandemic drains you so much mentally and physically. You have to be very positive in whatever you do and thinking, yes, it is not easy but you have to think about your kids,” Molokwane said.
Under her leadership, NSA won the right to host the 2023 Netball World Cup and attracted sponsors such as Telkom and Twizza.
Netball South Africa president Cecilia Molokwane will contest the upcoming Sascoc elections. Photo: BackpagePix
After the illness, Molokwane feels she is ready to take on the challenge of heading all sports federations in the country.
“I’m confident that I can win (the elections). Once people show faith in you - not only netball people but people from different sports codes - that should give you confidence. What we’ve done in changing the face of netball is what made people believe in me. We’ve made netball a force to be reckoned with.”
NSA have flourished under her leadership and she explains how she turned things around.
“I had to change the mindset of the girls when I came in. I had a meeting for about five hours with them; I wasn’t even three months at the office. They summoned me and I told them this is the last day you’ll summon me. After that I said, ‘put your issues together and then give me six months’. That was the last day they summoned me,” Molokwane elaborated.
It is no secret that the Limpopo-born administrator is facing some real heavyweights from very influential sports federations but she is not perturbed by this.
“I believe that if this is my time, God will make it happen. I won’t be going there and say, ‘please vote for me’. If God wants me wherever, I’ll be there no matter what. Netball is the biggest female federation in the country. It will be correct for netball to be part of Sascoc. Sascoc must be led by someone whose code is performing. We need people who will show records. Records don’t lie,” Molokwane stated.
The Proteas netball side came very close to reaching the final at last year’s Netball World Cup after narrowly losing 55-53 to eventual champions Australia in the semi-finals, and Molokwane’s leadership and her technical back-up team have been largely credited for this performance.
South Africa are currently the champions of African netball.