ANC hands Semenya investigation to Sports Ministry

The African National Congress (ANC) task team probing the mishandling of the gender-verification process of 800m gold medallist Caster Semenya will hand the matter over to the Sports Ministry for further investigation, the ANC said on Thursday.

“We think they are better placed as government ... to pursue the matter,” said ANC national spokesperson Jackson Mthembu at a press briefing in Johannesburg.

The task team had conducted interviews with various members of Athletics South Africa (ASA), the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, and the Ministry of Sport and Recreation.

“Throughout these consultations the ANC’s position about Athletics South Africa has not changed.

In fact, we are more convinced that ASA and its doctor have a case to answer.

“In this instance, in relation to the Caster issue, they performed dismally.”

When asked whether the ASA board should be dissolved, Mthembu responded: “You can’t be targeting an individual on the sins of the entire board.”

Task team member Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said of Semenya’s emotional state that the 18-year-old seemed to be in a position to “deal with the situation”.

“When we met her ... she was extremely relaxed and very happy and seems to have found her own way of dealing with this quagmire,” she said.

Semenya won the 800m in a time of 1:55,45 in Berlin on August 19.

However, the significant improvement in her time, her masculine physique and deep voice threw her gender into question.

In September, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) ordered gender tests on Semenya.

Australian media reports quoting leaked documents later suggested that it had been found that the athlete had no ovaries or uterus, but internal testes which produced testosterone.

The IAAF said it was reviewing the results and would decide next month whether Semenya could continue competing in women’s events.

IAAF president Lamine Diack recently cancelled a meeting with Sport Minister Makhenkhesi Stofile to find a resolution to the matter. Mthembu said this meeting had been rescheduled.

The ANC has called on the IAAF to declare null and void the gender-verification results conducted both in South Africa and in Berlin.—Sapa