Olympic champion Tatjana Smith has issued Swimming South Africa with a letter of demand seeking payment of interest allegedly retained after competition prize money was held for more than a year.
Following the provisional suspension of both Swimming South Africa’s (SSA’s) president and chief executive officer earlier this week, the beleaguered federation has once again found itself in hot water.
It is facing added scrutiny after two-time Olympic champion Tatjana Smith accused it of withholding prize money and retaining the interest when she did eventually receive the money more than a year later.
In a letter of demand dated 25 August sent by Hurter Spies Attorneys on behalf of the Smith and her husband Joel, they allege that SSA retained the interest that accrued on $35,000 (R560,000 at the current exchange rate and R650,000 at the time) in prize money earned at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
Mafata Modutoane, SSA’s operations manager, allegedly kept the interest as a “management fee” after prize money was “unlawfully held by SSA for more than a year”, the lawyer’s letter alleges.
Smith and her husband approached Wian Spies, attorney and director of Hurter Spies Attorneys, in July 2026 to issue a final letter of demand. According to the letter, Smith has still not received the outstanding interest.
Spies told Daily Maverick that the dispute is less about money than the principle involved, especially considering the culture of mismanagement rooted in the federation, particularly by its most senior officials.
“It’s more of a principle thing. Tatjana and Joel feel that athletes cannot be deprived of receiving their prize money years later, years after they’ve won the medals,” Spies told Daily Maverick.
“At least if they pay it late, they should at least then pay some form of interest as well.”
The letter calls for payment of the outstanding interest, calculated from the date prize money was received from the competition until the date it was actually paid to Smith. It also requested proof of where the funds were held during that period.
Should SSA fail to comply within 10 days of the sending of the demand, the matter would be escalated, the letter states.
“It’s very early at this stage because there’s still time in terms of that letter of demand and we haven’t really received a response yet,” said Spies.
Modutoane has declined to comment on the allegations, saying only that he had received the letter and his lawyers were giving it “the necessary attention”.
“I received that letter. I’ve got my legal team looking at it, so I cannot comment further after we’ve responded to them [Smith’s attorneys],” Modutoane said.
Email correspondence from Modutoane to Daily Maverick also confirmed this.
“Kindly note that we have received formal correspondence from Hurter Spies Attorneys regarding this matter. As a matter of principle and due process, we will respond to the legal representatives directly rather than address the substance of the matter through the media,” the email reads.
“We are currently finalising our response to their correspondence and will engage through the appropriate channels once this process has been concluded.”
He later asked Daily Maverick to delay publishing on Friday 28 August, to allow him time to provide a further response. But by close of business on Monday 31 August, Daily Maverick had not received any further correspondence from Modutoane.
On 28 July 2023, Smith claimed gold in the 200m breaststroke at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
With this win she also made history by becoming the first South African woman to win a gold medal at a World Championship.
This was her second medal of the tournament after she claimed silver in the 100m breaststroke on 25 July.
As a result, Smith was awarded prize money. For her gold medal she was to receive $20,000 (about R370,000 at the time) as well as $15,000 (about R276,000 at the time) for her silver.
However, SSA withheld the money for more than a year, according to the letter of demand.
On 31 May 2024, Hurter Spies Attorneys sent an initial letter of demand to SSA regarding the prize money the federation withheld from Smith, Spies told Daily Maverick.
According to Spies, SSA never responded to the letter. Further legal steps were being considered, but the 2024 Paris Olympics were approaching and so the decision was to hold off while Smith competed.
On 1 August 2024, Smith claimed silver in the 200m breaststroke at the Paris Olympics. According to Spies, Modutoane approached Smith’s husband after the press conference and showed him the proof of payment.
While the prize money had been paid, Smith’s husband noticed no amount had been included for the interest that may have accrued while the funds were being held.
According to the letter, when asked why the interest had not also been paid, Modutoane replied: “I kept the interest as a management fee.”
“At the time our clients were not sure whether Mr Mafata Modutoane was making a joke or whether he in fact kept the interest due to our client as a self-allocated personal bonus,” the lawyer’s letter reads.
The letter further raises concerns about the transparency and accountability of officials within the federation and the fact that Modutoane had access to funds “due and payable to athletes”.
It remains unclear what communication, if any, took place between the Smiths and SSA after the payment was made during the Paris Olympics. Spies said he was unable to comment on interactions that may have occurred during that period up until he was contacted in July 2026.
According to Spies, SSA did not respond to the letter of demand that was sent in May 2024.
However, SSA did communicate on one occasion with Smith regarding the matter.
On 16 August 2023, SSA informed Smith that her prize money was being withheld because SSA was fining her for wearing the incorrect kit during the Fukuoka championships, said Spies.
She was to be fined €46,000 for not competing in the prescribed Arena kit, said Spies.
According to Spies, Smith wore specialised equipment, including a Speedo suit and goggles, but did wear the Arena swimming cap.
Swimmers were only informed on the morning of 23 July that they would be fined, with Smith’s heat taking place a few hours later, said Spies.
After the legal firm requested further explanation for the penalties in its initial letter of demand, SSA swiftly withdrew the fines, said Spies.
“The issue that we had with that whole procedure at the time was the fact that [SSA] arbitrarily just decided how much they wanted to fine her,” he said.
“The fines were not reasonable at all and it was also sort of ironic or at least a coincidence that the fine amount amounted to more than the amount that the winnings would have been, giving SSA a reason to withhold her entire amount of prize money.”
The leadership appears to be unravelling within SSA as this letter comes amid the news of SSA’s president and CEO being stripped of their powers by swimming’s highest international authority.
On Monday, 24 August, the Aquatics Integrity Unit, the independent disciplinary arm of World Aquatics, announced that it had provisionally suspended SSA president Alan Fritz and CEO Shaun Adriaanse.
The duo has been suspended over “potential violations of the World Aquatics Integrity Code, including abuse of power and the provision of false information and fake documents”.
In addition to being suspended, both men are barred from holding any position at SSA, Africa Aquatics or World Aquatics and from attending any aquatics event in any capacity, while the Integrity Unit’s proceedings continue.
As of 28 August, SSA had still not issued a public statement regarding its suspended leadership, but there have been several internal memos to affiliates.
In a memo to affiliates on 25 August, SSA’s executive committee appointed current vice-president Zikie Molusi as acting president.
They also appointed a “three-person management committee”, in the absence of a CEO.
“These are current staff members with vast knowledge and a set of skills that should ensure that all internal and external stakeholders continue to be served diligently without any disruptions,” the memo stated.
“The three members appointed to the committee consist of current (finance manager) Batch Morar, (education & training manager/acting HR manager) Eileen Xhakaza, and Dean Price, the (high-performance manager).”
Modutoane told Daily Maverick on 27 August that the executive is handling the situation and will announce interim leadership in due course.
“We’re just concentrating on the daily operations of the federation and making sure that athletes are not affected and teams are travelling as scheduled,” was all Modutoane was willing to state on the matter.
Whether Smith receives the money remains to be seen, but SSA continues to face mounting pressure, and this letter of demand raises further concerns about the custodian’s handling of athlete funds and accountability to the athletes it serves. DM
