SA's ruling ANC disgusted at IAAF over Semenya

South Africa's ruling ANC said on Sunday it was "disgusted" by the way international and South African athletics bodies had handled the case of world champion runner Caster Semenya, who is undergoing gender tests.

"The ANC is appalled by the manner in which both the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the Athletics South Africa (ASA) have handled the issue," African National Congress Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe said.

South Africa's sports ministry has called for ASA chief Leonard Chuene to be fired for lying about whether gender tests were carried out on Semenya before August's world championships.

"ASA is not handling that matter with the necessary honesty and transparency," Mantashe told a news conference. "We are also disgusted by the way the IAAF handled the matter. We think that the issue was handled in the most insensitive way."

Chuene admitted on Saturday that Semenya had been subjected to gender tests before the tournament, something he had previously denied. He said he had lied to protect the 800m gold-medalist's privacy.

"We do not agree with Chuene's insistence that he had lied in Semenya's interest, in fact we are of the view that his lies were to Semenya's detriment," Deputy Minister of Sport Gert Oosthuizen said.

"In light of this, we now request the membership of ASA to not only take disciplinary action against Mr Chuene, but to fire him from his position as the president of ASA. If they fail to do so, they will be running the risk of being led by a liar."

Chuene, who has apologised for the incident, was not immediately available to comment.

He said he had denied the tests took place in order to protect Semenya's privacy and because the IAAF had made no request to withdraw the athlete from the championships.

The IAAF began a gender verification process ahead of the race in Berlin and, pending the outcome, allowed Semenya to participate in the 800m final where she crushed her opponents.

The tests results are expected in late November. The IAAF has declined to confirm or deny a report in Australia's Daily Telegraph newspaper which said she had both male and female sexual characteristics.

Chuene said he had ignored a request from ASA's team doctor to withdraw Semenya from the championships over gender concerns because the tests had needed to be kept confidential, adding that no South African code stipulated that she should not run.