The inquiry was established by South Africa's Sports Minister Thembelani Nxesi in August following a period of turmoil at SASCOC.

It is being led by Judge Ralph Zulman with the support of Ali Bacher and Shamina Gaibie.

Witnesses began giving evidence on Monday (February 12), with a series of current and former SASCOC officials due to participate, as well as representatives from national governing bodies.

"The general impression I've got so far is that SASCOC was dysfunctional," Zulman said, according to The Citizen.

"Of course, we're going to have to hear the other side.

"We want to get all sides of the story - the plaintiff, the defendant and the truth.

"We're mainly concerned with the truth."

Desiree Vardhan is one of the SASCOC officials to have given evidence so far, with the employee at the centre of a controversial case in the organisation.

Tubby Reddy was sacked as SASCOC chief executive last month, following a lengthy investigation, which also resulted in the dismissals of Vinesh Maharaj and Jean Kelly.

Their departure followed a formal investigation which was established to investigate four allegations, including the "sudden changes to SASCOC's security service" and the "alleged involvement of staff in irregular governance activities".

"Awareness of the so-called 'SS Griffin' Report on the alleged bugging/tapping of phones and office communication" was another allegation.

A claim of sexual harassment against Reddy was also made by Vardhan, who is in charge of coaching at SASCOC, which he was found guilty of by the investigation last month.

Reddy was claimed to have sent an "erotic calendar via email" as well as asking Vardhan to "identify her birthday position" and "repeatedly asking for neck and shoulder massages during working hours".

While the case is believed to have been discussed with the inquiry behind closed doors, Vardhan reportedly spoke out against the "very toxic and threatening" culture of the organisation.

According to Times Live, Vardan claimed she had been shocked that her budget for 2016 had been less than ZAR300,000 (£18,300/$25,700/€20,600), despite the Government reportedly giving SASCOC ZAR2.4 million (£146,000/$205,000/€165,000) for coaching.

SASCOC President Gideon Sam has also reportedly come under fire from lawyer David Becker.

Becker was representing Dr George van Rensburg, whose daughter Emma and Lyn Earley complained about SA Sports and Fitness Federation (SASAFF) President Keith Barends in 2013.

The employees' complaints led to an inquiry by SASCOC, which ultimately found SASAFF to be guilty of intimidation of minors and discriminatory conduct, as well as of manipulation of scoring and maladministration in the award of South African colours.

The chair of the inquiry, Alex Pullinger, recommended the federation be disbanded and that "Mr Barends and Ms Marizaane le Roux be barred from holding any leadership position in any SASCOC afflicted federation in the future".

Becker has claimed that despite ordering the inquiry, Sam has failed to act upon the report, with Barends still in charge.

"It is the complainants' submission that the failure to address this Pullinger Report is because of Mr Sam's personal friendship with Barends‚" said Becker, according to Times Live.

"[It is] well known that Mr Sam and Barends are good friends and according to a source within SASCOC who communicated with us‚ Mr Sam advised in an informal meeting that despite the contents of the Pullinger report‚ SASCOC would not be taking any further steps against SASAFF".

At the SASCOC Annual General Meeting earlier this month, Sam expressed his hope the governing body will be able to move on from the case following the inquiry.

He also claimed the dismissal of the three officials was not a "knee-jerk reaction", but admitted SASCOC were in a state of flux.