By David IsaacsonSouth African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Barry Hendricks has been suspended with immediate effect, the umbrella body told members in a circular on Wednesday. The Sascoc board took the action at a special meeting held on Monday and Tuesday after a recommendation by retired judge Basheer Waglay, who had investigated claims made against Hendricks in two anonymous emails earlier this year. “In his report, Judge Waglay recommended that there was prima facie evidence to warrant referral of the complaints to the Sascoc judicial body for further action,” the circular read. “The suspension does not constitute a finding of wrongdoing. It is intended to protect the integrity and independence of the process and to enable the matters to be considered thoroughly and impartially by the Sascoc judicial body.”The Sascoc missive said first vice-president Lwandile Simelane would perform the functions of the president. The investigation into Hendricks was launched after two emails containing four allegations against the president were sent anonymously to Sascoc members and officials. The first email accused him of campaigning ahead of a by-election for a board seat in April by contacting members ahead of the ballot and trying to persuade them to vote for a particular candidate. After his preferred nominee failed to get in, he allegedly contacted them again to ask who they had voted for. The second email contained three further allegations. One had to do with a proposed R10m refurbishment of the Sascoc auditorium using money from the Gauteng Gambling Board, on which Hendricks was a board member at the time. Another was around a “safeguarding concern” during a multi-sport competition outside the country, and the final was based on claims he had been observed “consuming alcohol excessively while representing Sascoc at official meetings and events both domestically and internationally”. The Sascoc circular on Wednesday did not say which of the four claims had resulted in the prima facie evidence. The move against Hendricks means the presidents of Sascoc and the country’s two biggest Olympic codes, athletics and swimming, are all currently under suspension. Swimming South Africa president Alan Fritz was suspended by World Aquatics’ integrity unit last month for “potential violations” such as abuse of power and provision of false information and fake documents. Athletics South Africa president James Moloi was suspended last year for alleged abuse of the federation credit card, although his case should reach finality soon after a disciplinary inquiry was held early this month. This is the second time Hendricks has been suspended by Sascoc. In 2020 he was sidelined as acting president in a case that also involved electioneering, where he had been approached by a federation president asking his opinion about the suitability of a candidate. That case against Hendricks ultimately fell apart, and he was elected president later that year along with a new board that has since restored the image of the organisation, which had been hurt by infighting and corruption.