Athletes still unpaid as Soweto Marathon’s future hangs in the balance

At the end of July, a line of hope had been cast when Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) announced that winners of the 2025 Soweto Marathon would receive a partial payment of their outstanding prize money. 

However, the release of those funds, which are being held by the Gauteng Sports Confederation, has been delayed, leaving athletes in limbo almost a year after the race. 

CGA had hoped to use approximately R740,000 in surplus funds linked to the 2024 race to make interim payments to athletes owed a share of roughly R1.2-million in outstanding prize money. This is according to Mandla Radebe, CGA general manager. 

“The proposed partial payment was being considered as an interim measure while the broader governance and financial matters surrounding the Soweto Marathon are being addressed,” said Radebe.

According to Radebe, the process has since been affected by delays in the release of funds by the Gauteng Sports Confederation. 

However, no reason for the delay was provided. 

Questions have been sent to the confederation regarding the reasons for the delay and the authority under which the funds are being held; however, no response had been received by the date of publication. 

According to Radebe, CGA is engaging “all relevant stakeholders” with the aim of finding a “practical solution” to the outstanding payments. 

“CGA’s position remains that athletes should not be prejudiced by the governance issues and must receive their payment,” said Radebe. 

“We will continue engaging with the relevant stakeholders to identify mechanisms through which the outstanding prize money can be paid. This includes obtaining clarity on the status of the funds payment timelines.” 

Despite the ongoing discussions and engagements, 2025 men’s winner Joseph Seutloali’s coach Andrew Booyens and Onalenna Khonkhobe’s coach Pio Mpolokeng told Daily Maverick they had not received any direct communication from either CGA or the race organisers, the Soweto Marathon Non-Profit Company. 

Both said any information they had received about the proposed payment plan had come through media reports and public statements. 

Seutloali is owed R250,000 for winning the race, while road running queen Gerda Steyn and Khonkhobe, who both finished third in their respective races, are each owed R90,000. 

A lost sponsor 

There is also little indication that the Soweto Marathon will take place this year. 

Although the race appears on several online race calendars, including World Athletics, Racepass and Running Calendar, no entries have opened and little information has been made available. 

When asked whether the race would proceed this year, Radebe said CGA could not confirm that the event would proceed with its sanction. 

The provincial body has previously stated that it would not sanction a future edition of the race until “until the outstanding governance matters had been appropriately addressed”. 

African Bank, however, is still listed as the headline sponsor on some race calendar websites, despite no longer sponsoring the event.

African Bank confirmed to Daily Maverick that it had “fulfilled all contractual obligations”, including the timeous and full payment of the rights fees. According to the bank, the distribution of the prize payments was the responsibility of the race organiser, the Soweto Marathon Non-Profit Company. 

“We had hoped that this matter would be resolved urgently, and that the race winners would soon receive the prize money they so richly deserve,” said a representative from African Bank. 

The bank said it had reached out to the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and was awaiting a meeting to further discuss the matter.

Asked if African Bank was involved in any capacity for a potential 2026 edition of the race, as the company was still reflected as a sponsor, the bank informed Daily Maverick that no sponsorship contract was in place should the race proceed. 

According to the bank, its contractual obligations had ended. 

“African Bank wishes to emphasise that it has met all its contractual obligations; it is regrettable that the current situation is not resolved,” said the bank. 

A race steeped in boardroom chaos

The unpaid prize money is the latest chapter in a years-long governance dispute over control of the “People’s Race”. 

Four main players were involved:

• The Soweto Marathon Trust – historically linked to the race and claimed custodianship. 

• Soweto Marathon Pty Ltd – a private company introduced as a stopgap in 2023.

• Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) – the provincial body that sanctions races in the wider Gauteng region. 

• The Soweto Marathon Non-Profit Company – a newly formed entity appointed to organise the 2025 race, after gaining support from nine out of 11 Soweto athletics clubs. 

The conflict stems from CGA removing the race from the Soweto Marathon Trust’s direct control in 2023 after governance and financial concerns reportedly emerged within the trust. 

Some trustees were also reportedly expelled from athletics structures. 

Soweto Marathon Pty Ltd was subsequently created as a temporary measure to ensure the race could still take place while governance issues within the trust were being resolved. 

They ran the 2023 and 2024 editions of the race. However, according to Sunday World, financial difficulties subsequently emerged and the company’s bank accounts were frozen.  

As governance tensions continued, the Soweto Marathon Non-Profit Company was later formed and approved to organise the 2025 race. 

Despite CGA and Athletics South Africa (ASA) moving to dissolve the Soweto Marathon Trust in 2025, according to TimesLIVE, the trust maintains that it is the lawful custodian and owner of the Soweto Marathon, and disputes the authority of the structures that subsequently organised the event. 

This is according to Stan Itshegetseng, spokesperson for the Soweto Marathon Trust. 

Speaking to Daily Maverick, Itshegetseng said the surplus funds currently held by the Gauteng Sports Confederation were an asset of the Soweto Marathon Trust – despite it not organising the 2024 race – and “cannot be touched or dealt with without the trust’s authority”. 

Itshegetseng argued that Athletics South Africa (ASA), CGA and any other entities that benefited from the disputed races should first contribute towards settling the outstanding prize money. 

“While the athletes deserve to be paid for services rendered and prizes won, it is unreasonable to shift responsibility to the Soweto Marathon Trust when it neither organised nor sanctioned the race and had expressly warned everyone of the legal and governance risks.” 

With the disputes still unresolved, Itshegetseng also does not expect the race to be staged this year.

Ultimately, the years of turmoil and bitter disputes have immersed the Soweto Marathon in such uncertainty that even if the athletes are eventually paid, a huge question mark looms over the future of the People’s Race. DM