LEADERSHIP CRISIS: World Aquatics suspends Swimming SA president and CEO amid fraud and abuse-of-power claims

After years of mismanagement and scandals, Swimming South Africa (SSA) president Alan Fritz and chief executive officer Shaun Adriaanse have been stripped of their powers by the sport’s highest authority.The Aquatics Integrity Unit (AQIU), the independent disciplinary arm of World Aquatics, announced on 24 August that it has provisionally suspended Fritz and Adriaanse.The duo have 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.They have been sanctioned for violating a host of clauses of the Aquatics Integrity Code (listed below). Swimming South Africa CEO Shaun Adriaanse. (Photo: Steve Haag / Gallo Images) The AQIU would not give any more information or a timeline on the next steps. It also did not clarify which of the several scandals Swimming SA is involved in are the focus of the suspension.The unit has said it will make no further comment while the case is ongoing.Meanwhile, SSA has yet to issue a public statement on the matter.Daily Maverick contacted SSA for comment on the provisional suspension, interim leadership arrangements and the nature of the allegations underpinning the AQIU’s decision. However, no response had been received by the time of publication.However, an internal memo was sent to affiliates on 24 August stating that the executive committee “has become aware and taken note of the World Aquatics press release” announcing the provisional suspension of Fritz and Adriaanse, and is “awaiting further information to be furnished”.According to the memo, the executive committee would schedule a meeting “within the next two days” to brief affiliates on the status of the matter or “as soon as further information becomes available”.The executive committee also assured affiliates that it would “continue to manage everything in the best interest of All Our Members and Affiliates” and ensure there was “no disruption to current and future activities”.Separately, SSA was scheduled to hold a media briefing on 26 August on the launch of its water polo high-performance strategy and 2028 Olympic pathway. While the organisation did not respond to Daily Maverick’s questions about the suspensions, it did notify media that the briefing had been cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances”, without providing a reason.Serious claimsBut it’s clear from the AQIU statement alleging “abuse of power, the provision of false information and fake documents”, that it all adds up to a serious case of fraud against Fritz and Adriaanse.According to various sources, the AQIU has been building up a case against SSA’s leadership for the better part of a year.The AQIU case has coincided with media reporting on SSA’s various governmental, legal and structural problems.SSA has been under scrutiny over the collapse of its Franschhoek High Performance Centre, a planned World Aquatics-accredited training facility.It drew roughly R111-million in funding, including about R35-million from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC), R8.5-million from World Aquatics and R6-million from the Sports Trust.More than R50-million has reportedly been spent, but the site has instead fallen into disrepair, with Daily Maverick’s earlier reporting describing stripped fittings, shattered windows and sewage-contaminated pools after the host school terminated its lease with the facility’s operator in 2024.A 25m and a 50m pool were to be built for some of the best young swimmers from across the globe at Franschhoek High School. The Franschhoek High Performance Centre was also intended to be a training site for local swimmers to prepare for the Olympic Games. (File photo: Keanan Hemmonsbey) The SIU confirmed to Daily Maverick in 2025, and again in March 2026, that there was an active and ongoing investigation into the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) grant allocated to the Franschhoek High Performance Centre.“The SIU’s investigation into the National Lotteries Commission grant to the Franschhoek High Performance Centre remains ongoing,” Ngwako Motsieng, acting spokesperson for the SIU, reconfirmed to Daily Maverick on 30 March.“The SIU does not investigate individuals or entities, but rather the processes – in this instance, the process that led to the allocation of NLC funding. Through this work, the investigation may identify individuals or entities that potentially benefited improperly.”The changerooms and showers at the Franschhoek High Performance Centre — all doors and pipes have been removed, walls vandalised, and there are faeces on the floors. (File photo: Keanan Hemmonsbey) In a statement released in February, SSA said: “SSA categorically places it on record that Swimming South Africa is not under investigation by the SIU, has never been notified of any investigation and has not been contacted by the SIU or any investigative authority at any time.”But on 20 May, SSA shifted its position, stating it had been notified for the first time of an investigation when the SIU emailed a request for a meeting.“Swimming South Africa (SSA) received an email from the SIU (18 May 2026) asking to meet to discuss the Project which was awarded to Swimming South Africa by the NLC during 2023,” operations manager of SSA Mafata Modutoane told Daily Maverick via email correspondence.SAWP breakawaySeparately, SSA spent much of 2025 in a legal standoff with an alternative body – SA Water Polo (SAWP).The independent body was formed in March that year by administrators who said SSA had failed to provide governance, funding or basic planning for the sport.They cited several examples, such as a national under-15 tournament arranged with a week’s notice. SSA responded with a cease-and-desist letter and prepared to fight SAWP in the high court.SAWP then won the legal right to exist and could even evolve into the sport’s national federation, according to a judgment handed down by the Western Cape Division of the High Court against the SSA.South Africa’s Chad Roman up against Patrick O’Neill of New Zealand during the World Aquatics Men’s Division 2 Water Polo World Cup 7th-8th place match on 7 May in Berlin, Germany. (File photo: Maja Hitij / Getty Images) The two bodies briefly put aside their differences and began exploring a potential partnership, announcing in June 2026 a joint commitment to “a single integrated water polo formation”.But on 25 August, following the provisional suspensions of SSA’s leadership, SAWP issued a statement suggesting that perhaps the partnership was no longer on the table.“The provisional suspension of senior Swimming South Africa leadership by the Aquatics Integrity Unit reinforces why SA Water Polo exists,” the statement read.“SAWP was formed because our sport, our athletes and our administrators deserve better governance, greater accountability and a structure that puts water polo first. Our resolve has not changed.“We will continue to fight for a better sporting environment, built on integrity, transparency and opportunity. We are clear in our ambition to take responsibility for the governance and future of water polo in South Africa and to build a structure that our athletes, coaches, officials and administrators can believe in.”Artistic swimmers lawsuitAdriaanse, meanwhile, is a central figure in a separate R7.2-million high court damages claim brought against SSA by artistic swimmers Laura Strugnell and Jessica Hayes-Hill.The pair, who were pulled from the 2024 world championships, the Paris Olympic qualifier, over a disciplinary sanction later found to be procedurally unfair on appeal.Two separate processes – a high court ruling and an independent arbitrator – found fault with how SSA handled the disciplinary case against the athletes.What began in February 2024 as a contested disciplinary action at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha escalated into the R7.2-million damages claim that went before the Gauteng Division of the High Court. It looks set to move to mediation now.This is the latest development in a saga that has raised questions about transparency, accountability and athlete welfare. Jessica Hayes-Hill and Laura Strugnell of Team South Africa compete in the Artistic Swimming Women’s Duet Technical Preliminaries at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships on 14 July 2023 in Fukuoka, Japan. (File photo: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images) SSA failed to comply with an agreed pre‑trial timetable requiring it to respond to the athletes’ discovery demands by 10 April.Their claim, filed after that appeal, has moved slowly.SSA missed its deadline to plead, was hit with a notice of bar in April 2025, and avoided default judgment in June 2025 only after a court uplifted the bar, ordered it to plead within three days and pay a costs penalty.In March 2026, Burrows Attorneys, representing the athletes, served a further discovery notice demanding 13 categories of documents, including recordings of the three disciplinary hearings held against the athletes, selection-committee minutes and internal correspondence about the original sanction.SSA responded in an affidavit from Adriaanse in July 2026. It said the federation had searched diligently but “cannot say with certainty where that information may be located”.In response to questions from Daily Maverick on why these documents could not be located, SSA accused Daily Maverick of bias. It did not address the substance of any of the questions put directly to it.Daily Maverick has approached the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture for comment. The department said it would respond in due course. Daily Maverick will add the response if and when it arrives. DMWhat the charges meanAlan Fritz and Shaun Adriaanse are provisionally suspended under Articles 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6(c) for Adriaanse, 9.12, 10.1 and 10.2 of the World Aquatics Integrity Code.In brief:Article 5.1 – Covered persons “must always act honestly, fairly, impartially and in accordance with the highest ethical standards of integrity and transparency.”Article 5.2 – Covered persons “must avoid any conduct that may undermine public confidence in the integrity of Aquatics and/or in the uncertainty of the outcome of Events.”Article 5.3 – Covered persons “must avoid acts or omissions that give the appearance of impropriety, or that disparage World Aquatics, or that bring... World Aquatics, Aquatics and/or sport generally into disrepute.”Article 6 (c) – Cooperate fully with all investigations carried out by the AQIU in relation to possible violations of World Aquatics Rules (including, without limitation, by providing any information and/or documentation requested by the AQIU as part of that investigation, including by way of a Demand).Article 9.12 – Covered persons “must not abuse their position within Aquatics in any way, especially for their own aims or objectives.”Article 10.1 – Covered persons “must not forge a document or falsify an authentic document or knowingly use a forged or falsified document.”Article 10.2 – Covered persons “must not tell falsehoods, give fake documents, or knowingly give false information, including false results, nationality and/or date of birth.”