Athletics SA investigating eligibility of sex offender Steven Swarts

Athletics South Africa (ASA) says it is still investigating the status of Steven Swarts, who retains his position as Athletics Free State (AFS) president despite being convicted of sexual assault.

Swarts, who is the coach and stepfather of 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk, was given a five-year suspended sentence in 2020 after admitting guilt.

This, after a 21-year-old female athlete he coached alleged that he had inserted his fingers into her genitals while he was giving her a massage.

Voted in as AFS president

Despite being found guilty, and reportedly being listed on the National Register for Sex Offenders, Swarts was later elected as AFS president, which was not in line with ASA’s efforts in recent years to create a safe space for athletes within the sport.

ASA president James Moloi claimed that AFS members were aware of Swarts’ conviction when he was elected provincial president.

Moloi also insisted Swarts, whose wife Odessa Swarts also sits on the AFS board, had been cleared by the court to retain his sports administrator and coach positions.

“We have met with the (AFS) clubs and they said they knew everything about what happened, but they got surety from him (Swarts) and decided to vote for him,” Moloi said.

Board members suspended

Nonetheless, nine AFS members representing clubs had since called for a motion of no confidence against Swarts, claiming they did not know he had been convicted. They were all subsequently suspended.

“Members of AFS wrote to us last year, calling for Swarts to be removed as president, but they did not follow proper procedure, which is why they were suspended,” Moloi said.

Four of the nine club representatives had since withdrawn their complaints, and the other five had their suspensions provisionally lifted while ASA investigated the matter.

Moloi confirmed the matter was in the hands of the ASA safeguarding committee and the federation’s legal team. They expected a decision (on Swarts’ eligibility and the suspension of AFS club members) by the end of this week.

Moloi also revealed that ASA had been contacted by global body World Athletics, which requested for the issue to be resolved.