Company announcements

Harmony committed to eliminating use of illegal substances in sport

October 04, 2005

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Athletics South Africa (ASA) announced [today] that Gladys Lukhwareni, top female athlete of Harmony Athletic Club (HAC), tested positive for Decadurabulon, an illegal performance enhancing drug.

‘We were tremendously disappointed in learning that one of our top South African athletes, 23 year old Gladys Lukhwareni got involved in the misuse of performance enhancings drugs. We will never ever accept the use of illegal substances and will provide all our support and cooperation to Athletics South Africa (ASA) and Drugs Free Sport in eliminating it,’ said Nick Bester, Harmony Athletic Club’s Manager.

Lukhwareni willingly and honestly confessed to taking the drug after being notified of the ASA’s test results. ‘Gladys naively sought help from unknowingly corrupt sources for knee problems early June and got trapped into using this drug,’ said Bester.

Not only did the news of this incident saddened Harmony Athletic Club, but also highlighted the urgent action needed to prosecute greedy suppliers of performance enhancing drugs. Together with ASA and Drugs Free Sport, Harmony Athletic Club is fully committed and geared to track down the illegal supply networks within the sports world. ‘We believe that this particular incident forms part of a bigger drug syndicate aimed at young athletes and will do what it takes to get to the root of the problem,’ said Bester. Harmony has learned that this particular drug is supplied to athletes from a well-known pharmacy in Pretoria West and, together with investigators, is currently following up on information in order to track down the culprits.

Gladys joined Harmony Athletic Club’s Development Programme, just over four years ago and has shown tremendous growth as a professional athlete in all major South African Marathons. ‘Gladys was well on her way to become one of South Africa’s best woman’s running athletes and it’s sorrowful that these people abused her ignorance and in the process not only destroyed her future in the sport, but also took away her livelihood,’ added Nick Bester.

Harmony believes that all sports stakeholders – whether it’s a club, governing bodies and managers – should make a conscience effort in educating young athletes about the consequences of abusing drugs in sport. ‘People see disadvantaged athletes, often nurtured through development programmes, as easy targets to exploit with empty and often illegal promises,’ warned Bester.

For more details contact:

Ferdi Dippenaar
Marketing Director
+27(0)82 807 3684

Vusi Magadana
Investor Relations Officer
Office: +27 11 684 0149
Mobile: +27(0)72 157 5986
vusi.magandan@harmony.co.za