Former South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) board member, Lorraine Laine, has accused Gideon Sam of colluding with his then vice-chairperson, Hajera Kajee, by inappropriately benefiting from a business relationship.
Laine says he was told by then Sascoc CEO, Banele Sindane, that Kajee had a relationship with Sedgars, a retailor that made the uniform for the teams that represented the country at the previous Olympic Game
“In 2010, Sascoc administrators took hold of the lotto distribution committee. Gideon Sam was the chairperson of the distribution committee. Hajera Kajee was the vice chairperson, Ray Mali and other administrator, who was also on the committee as were Harold Adams who was an associate and Mahlatsi. She was suspended from the ANC board because of defrauding her province and she was put on the lotto distribution committee and there after became a board member of Sascoc. So there was a great deal of conflict of interest and multiple roles played. I was also told by Banele Sindani that Hajera Kajee is a relation of Sedgars owners. Sedgars supply Sascoc with uniforms and kits. If you remember in the Beijing Olympics, the athletes refused to wear it because it was so ugly and several times there had been outcries as to the ill-fitting unattractive way that is produced by Sedgars,” said Laine.
