Jean Verster has spent decades helping runners in Potchefstroom go faster and further. Now the man who turned the North West town into a training base for middle- and long-distance athletes from across South Africa and beyond has been asked to lead the sport’s national federation through one of its most delicate stretches.
Athletics South Africa confirmed that Verster, one of Potchefstroom’s most respected administrators and coaches, has been appointed Acting President of ASA. The decision was taken at a Board meeting on 30 October, and he will hold the position until the next ASA Council meeting, scheduled for 28 November 2026.
For Verster, the appointment continues a life lived inside the sport. He competed as a middle- and long-distance runner in the 1980s and 1990s before building a reputation as a world-class coach. He has long understood the administrative structures that sit behind the performances on the track. He currently serves as ASA’s Chairperson of Track and Field, leads Athletics Central North West as its president, and manages the NWU High Performance Institute. Under his guidance, Potchefstroom has grown into a hub for middle- and long-distance athletes, drawing talent from both local and international circles.
The circumstances of his appointment were unusual. According to ASA, Vice-President John Mathane, who had previously been serving as Acting President, left the meeting. Zakhele Dlamini, President of the Southern African Confederation of Athletics, was present as a representative of World Athletics and the Confederation of African Athletics, and it was Dlamini who directed the remaining Board members to choose an Acting President from among themselves. The Board unanimously settled on Verster, who accepted the responsibility.
The federation has framed the move as part of a wider effort to steady itself. ASA said the interim appointment forms part of attempts to address ongoing governance challenges and to bring the organisation in line with directives issued by World Athletics and the Confederation of African Athletics in correspondence dated 15 October.
More work is planned beyond the appointment itself. The Board has resolved to hold a strategic planning meeting from 13 to 15 November, with Dlamini’s assistance, aimed at developing a roadmap for improving the federation’s governance and operational structures.
For the athletes and coaches who train under Verster’s watch in Potchefstroom, the change at the top of ASA carries practical weight. The federation’s leadership shapes everything from competition structures to the environment in which runners prepare, and whoever holds the presidency during this period will be tasked with restoring stability while the sport’s international bodies monitor progress.
Verster’s profile suggests someone comfortable in both worlds. His coaching credentials have earned him recognition at the highest level, while his roles with Athletics Central North West and the NWU High Performance Institute have kept him close to the day-to-day business of developing athletes. That combination of competitive background, technical expertise and administrative experience is what ASA pointed to when describing the wealth of experience he brings to the position.
Whether the interim arrangement holds until the Council meeting in November 2026 will depend on how the federation navigates the months ahead. The strategic planning session later this month, conducted with the help of the Southern African Confederation of Athletics’ president, is intended to map out how ASA strengthens the way it governs and operates. For now, the task rests with a man whose career has been built around turning potential into performance, and who now faces the challenge of doing something similar for the federation itself.