'We won't allow a small group of people to destroy the race' - new CMA chair insists that race will go ahead as planned

After months of bitter infighting resulting in the departure of Race and Operations Manager Ann Ashworth, the suspension of board members and the resignation of the board's chairperson Mqondisi Ngcobo and his vice Les Burnard, the Comrades Marathon Association says the worst is behind them and the race will go ahead as schedule on 8 June 2025. Speaking during a press conference held yesterday (26 August, 2024) at the Comrades House in Pietermaritzburg on Monday, newly elected interim Chairperson Jeff Minnaar made a strong statement calling for lovers of the world's oldest ultra marathon to remain calm as the difficult period will soon be a thing of the past.

"I think it is very important that we assure the runners that the next year's race will go as planned, despite the negative news on social media and blogs. We won't allow a small group of people to destroy the history of the race that has stood for many years," said Minnaar, who is serving in a similar position for the second time after he was in charge during the late 80s to early 90s.

"I know a lot of people are concerned because the Comrades Marathon has over 30 000 to 40 000 people willing to run it. Most people across the country enter marathons because they dream to run Comrades, so we won't let those people down," said the man who was elected to the position last week following the resignation of Ngcobo, Burnard, Kerwin Basson and Pumlani Ntuli.

The 78-year-old Minnaar now leads the new board which consists of the following members: Peter Proctor (Interim Vice Chairperson), Sweetname Nkabinde, Pat Freeman, Celinkosi Makhoba, Nontuthuko Mashimane, Steve Mkasi (KZNA Representative), Busani Ndlovu and Isaac Ngwenya. Having served the race for five decades and was honoured with the Spirit of Comrades Award in 2012 and again in 2023, Minaar admits that the CMA and it's embattled board is not in a good space, saying that his first order of business is to deal with informers within organisation that feed sensitive and classified information to outsiders.

"Since I took over, there are three things I have discovered about the board. Firstly, 90 percent of them are anti racial. Secondly, there is an informer within the board responsible for giving out the classified information from our meetings. For instance, last week Thursday we held the meeting then at night, all the information was all over Facebook. It's wrong because it crucial information. So going forward, we are going to find that person. We can't have someone willing to divide us. Lastly, we have factions which is wrong. I promise to get into bottom of this," he said.

"I have agreed to do this job until November. My goal is to make sure that the people who will come after me find the organisation in good space without problems. I know three months is a short time but I'm very much positive that the board will help me to take the race back to where it belongs. As we all love the race, let's unite for a bigger goal."