WP Athletics to replace board member held for fraud

Western Province Athletics (WPA) has called a special general meeting for February to oust a board member who has been arrested after the organisation opened a case of fraud against him.

Allen Barnes‚ the organisation’s financial representative‚ was arrested last Friday and appeared in a Gauteng court on Monday‚ Western Cape police spokesperson Andre Traut said.

Barnes‚ 53‚ is due to appear in a Cape Town court on Monday‚ Traut added.

Barnes went missing after leaving his Cape Town home on January 4. After initial fears that he might have been the victim of a crime‚ police ascertained he had visited the Grand West casino before driving to Cape Town International Airport. The car he had been driving‚ which belonged to his fiancée‚ was left there.

Four days after Barnes’s disappearance WPA released a statement saying the board had found irregularities and had opened a case with police.

On Tuesday WPA said in a communique to members it would hold a meeting on February 6 to discuss the “removal of Barnes as a WPA board member and for him to be recalled from all WPA structures”.

The meeting would also look into the “investigation into possible non-compliance of WPA corporate governance of the current and previous board of WPA‚ with specific focus on financials”. The board wants to co-opt Malcolm Salida to the executive as a replacement.

The WPA document cited various constitutional clauses‚ including one detailing the suspension of members who engage in misconduct or “have unjustifiably violated the constitution or rules of WPA”.

Neither WPA president Jakes Jacobs nor the police would say how much money is involved in the fraud.