Cape Town — Cycling South Africa, the governing body of cycling in the country, have named Qondisa Ngwenya as their new president at its recent annual general meeting in Bellville, Cape Town.
Ngwenya, who has a long association with national cycling is also well-known in the field of sports sponsorship. He also has vast experience in the field of broadcasting, major events execution, content development and sales across Sub-Saharan Africa.
He takes over from long-standing national cycling stalwart Ciska Du Plessis-Austin and will be at the helm of the new executive board and federation until 2024.
Ngwenya's key focus will be to engage with the key stakeholders to grow cycling membership, revenue and ensure that cycling is recognised as a priority sport that plays a more significant role in mobility within South Africa.
“It’s a singular honour and privilege for me to be afforded the opportunity to lead Cycling South Africa," said Ngwenya.
"Much work has been done to develop the #GrowCycling Strategy, and we have a much clearer view of where we want to be and what our priorities are.
“Our vision is to transform the way we develop and deliver the performance of tomorrow’s talent and to become a financially sustainable sports organisation through our harnessing partnerships and sound governance. Importantly, we want to be a more diverse and inclusive organisation.
“I would like to thank our outgoing President Ciska Du Plessis-Austin for the sterling work she has done to bring CyclingSA this far, and for continuing to avail her services to the organisation going forward.”
Du Plessis-Austin last year served notice that she would be stepping down as president to pursue new ventures that would take her out of the country and possibly cause a conflict of interest. The general assembly requested that she remain on the board as a non-voting member so that the federation can continue to benefit from her wealth of knowledge and expertise.
Ms Du Plessis-Austin will now take on the strategic advisor portfolio to provide continuity and execute commercial opportunities identified to strengthen the federation. She will also be the acting treasurer for up to six months following the resignation of the treasurer Andre du Toit.
The general assembly praised Du Toit and Du-Plessis Austin for the work done with the Financial Department in drastically reducing the debt of Cycling SA over the past two years, with the forecast of being debt-free at the end of March 2022.
Following two years of valuable contribution within the Diversity and Inclusivity portfolio, Kevin Green will now chair the Provincial Council. It will be tasked with replicating the national-level strategy at a provincial level and focusing on diversifying all structures.
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