The Comrades Marathon Association confirmed on Thursday that race director Ann Ashworth has been removed from her role as Race and Operations Manager with immediate effect.
Ashworth revealed on Thursday morning that she had been given the boot in a statement published on her Facebook page. She said the board felt she “lacked the necessary leadership and race management abilities to continue to serve as the race and operations manager”.
“Given recent events this decision has not come as a surprise. For weeks there have been rumblings amongst the neysayers [sic] that ‘the Board would be dealing with me’,” Ashworth went on to add.
In a statement on Thursday, the CMA chairperson Mqondisi Ngcobo said their interim contractual agreement with Ashworth was due to expire on June 30.
Ashworth’s firing comes at an unfortunate time for the organisation. Last week, KZN Athletics said they were investigating alleged racist comments made by members of the CMA board in a WhatsApp group.
The message, with the identity of the sender hidden, read: “Guys you can recruit as many members as possible. Our new GM has recruited as many vanilla people as possible and as it stands we have close to new 400 members (all vanilla) who have joined and want to attend AGM in November to take back the CMA Board to be whites only.”
However, on Thursday, Ngcobo said Ashworth’s firing had nothing to do with the “Vanillagate” saga.
Alain Dalais has been appointed as acting race and operations manager on an interim basis until the position is filled on a permanent basis, the statement went on to add.
On the board member who made the alleged racist comment, the CMA said they will “convene a special General Meeting to get a mandate from members” to discuss their removal.
“The CMA wishes to reiterate its commitment to serving the best interests of all runners and to ensuring that there is no place for any form of discrimination within the race itself, its organisation or amongst its members,” said Ngcobo.
IOL Sport