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The Democratic Alliance has been informed by one of the prize winners of the Nedbank City of Cape Town Marathon, held on 27 September 2009, that Athletics South Africa (ASA) will only be paying the athletes their prize money at the end of the year, instead of following standard practice whereby athletes are paid within one week of the event.

This slap in the face of our athletic champions is a disgrace, and a clear sign that ASA is in desperate need of sponsorship, after Nedbank ‘pulled the plug' on their sponsorship agreement.

The athlete, who finished in the top 10 in the race, and who has asked not to be named, has told the DA that when the winners were called to sign for their winnings, they were informed that they would only receive their prize money at the end of the year.

Nedbank has allegedly already released the funds to ASA, which means that ASA is holding onto these funds at the expense of the athletes. The athlete who has come forward has had to borrow money from his coach as he was relying on the prize money for basic costs of living. Normal practice according to the athlete's coach is that winners are paid within one week of an event.

A total of R235 250 in prize money should be handed over to the winners of this event, with the top 5 in the 42.2km Marathon, Open Category Men and Women, entitled to:

1st R60 000
2nd R30 000
3rd R20 000
4th R10 000
5th R8000

On the Nedbank City of Cape Town Marathon information page hosted on the runners guide website, the ‘prizes and giveaways' section states the following: "Generous cash prizes go to all category winners. All other finishers receive medals." This is another lie by ASA as ‘Generous cash prizes' have not been handed out. When will the board at ASA be held to account?

While there may be legitimate reasons for withholding the prize money, ASA hasnot made satisfactory attempts to inform the athletes why their money is being withheld.

The DA will be following up to find out why ASA is withholding the prize money from the winners of this athletic event and whether it plans on withholding payments for future events as well.