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"The FF Plus rejects with the necessary contempt the reprehensible comments of the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sport, Butana Komphela, which he made yesterday during meetings as well as the threats hurled at the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Lamine Diack," Adv. Anton Alberts, the Freedom Front Plus' spokesperson on Sport says.

According to media reports, Mr. Komphela said that Mr. Diack first has to apologise to Caster Semenya for the way in which the IAAF treated her before he is allowed to enter South Africa and meet with president Zuma. In addition he also made the following statement: "Let me tell you, we will go to that airport to receive this powerful president of a federation and things are not going to be very nice for him".

"These absurd statements of Komphela are in line with the spirit of his earlier senseless comments when he threatened to have the Springbok rugby player's passports withdrawn if the team was not black enough. It is clear that Komphela is not capable to be the chairperson of the portfolio committee of Sport and he has to submit his resignation. His comments are emotionally charged rhetoric which does not contribute at all to reconciliation in South Africa. To the contrary, not only is it contra-productive but it smacks of people who are incapable of doing some soul-searching into their own contribution to the crisis in which Caster Semenya was thrown," is the opinion of Adv. Alberts.

"That is why the FF Plus challenges Mr. Komphela to answer the following questions honestly:

· Did the portfolio committee investigate the contribution of ASA in this specific case properly, specifically the personal complicity of the chairperson, Mr. Leonard Chuene? Is he not, through his statements, trying to make the shift the president of the IAAF the scapegoat in order to deflect the focus off Chuene?
· What exactly does Komphela mean when he says that they will be waiting for Mr. Diack at the airport and that it will not be very nice for him? Is he now making threats of assault and not, does he realise that he is creating an atmosphere where this is likely to happen?

The FF Plus views this incident in a serious light and will even take the matter further with President Zuma if it appears to be necessary. South Africa has already a diminishing esteem abroad and this poor actions of Komphela are only contributing to the eventual isolation of South Africa from the world community.