Boxing fraternity,
As it is now common knowledge, on Sunday, 15 March 2020, our State President, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa issued a statement in respect of measures to be adopted by South Africa to combat the Covid-19 epidemic. In setting the scene, the President characterized this medical emergency as being far graver than what has ever been experienced in over a century. He stated emphatically that the situation calls for an extraordinary response and there can therefore be no half measures.
As Boxing South Africa (BSA) issues this statement, South Africa has declared a national state of disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act . The overarching message to all sectors and citizens is that we all need to take urgent and drastic measures to, (1) manage the virus, (2) protect the people of this country and (3) reduce the impact of the virus on our society and our economy.
As part of South Africa’s integrated and coordinated disaster management mechanism to prevent and reduce the outbreak of this virus, a number of measures were announced by the President. These measures will surely have a direct and immediate impact on our business processes as a professional boxing regulatory body. We therefore kindly request you to take note of these implications:
All sanctioned tournaments are, with immediate effect, cancelled. The implication is that the following tournaments, which were already sanctioned will no longer be taking place:
No application for new tournaments will be accepted until further clarity is received from the National Command Council in terms of how long is the national state of disaster likely to last.
In the immediate, other administrative work of BSA will not be affected and the office remains open and functional. There is therefore no impact on the licensing process and its timelines arising from this national state of disaster.
With full appreciation of the need for our boxers to remain active and maintain fitness, we urge you all to exercise caution in the gyms and places of training by:
As the pugilist family and patriotic citizens, we are called upon to take personal responsibility and ensure that we:
As BSA we are mindful of the hard impact which this will have on our sector and society at large. We duly apologize for any inconvenience that might arise. In our own vocabulary, these are taken to ensure that, “we protect ourselves at all times’ as our nation goes through this trying time in the young life of our democracy. We however remain confident that standing and working together, South Africa will surely overcome this pandemic.
Just as a reminder and in summary, among the measures adopted by Cabinet to combat the spread of this virus are the following:
Please note that these directives may change as further updates or instructions are released by Government and National Sports and Health Authorities. For any enquiries please feel free to contact the Director of Operations, Ms. Cindy Nkomo on directorops@boxingsa.co.za