Ken Borland

The presence of former CEO Haroon Lorgat, whose removal in September 2017 began Cricket South Africa’s slide into chaos, is obviously the major stumbling block for the Members Council and the chief reason for them refusing to recognise the interim board they originally agreed to collaborate with to avoid further intervention from Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa.

Acting CSA president Rihan Richards tried to deny their refusal to play ball was down to their objection to an individual, but in his other statements during a press conference on Thursday afternoon he clearly identified Lorgat as the seed of their discontent.

“The chairman of the interim board [Zak Yacoob] said they should be appointed as directors on an unqualified basis or they were no longer willing to take part. We said we were not prepared to accept Haroon Lorgat as a director but then it was not the subject of further discussion. Until this conflict of interest is resolved, which I cannot go into exact details about, we believe the interim board has no legal standing in relation to the company.

“This is not about an individual but about the manner in which our concerns have been addressed, it is almost prescriptive, and we have raised issues around other persons as well. There has been a breakdown in our relationship, the lines of responsibility have been blurred. This is not a U-turn on our behalf, we just want to ensure the process remains credible,” Richards said on Thursday.

Richards said the control of cricket now lies with “the Members Council and the small board [comprising himself, Donovan May, John Mogodi and Zola Thamae] overlooking matters”. But the interim board issued their own statements on Thursday saying they will continue with the mandate entrusted to them by the sports minister.

“This interim board was appointed by the Minister in a way that circumvented the MOI,” Richards claimed. “We are unfairly being called obstructionist but they are not addressing our concerns, we have raised them with the Minister and they have not been addressed to our satisfaction. We have nothing to hide and we still want to engage all stakeholders, but it is our responsibility to ensure the game is administered to the best of ability.

“Sascoc has always been part of the process, but the manner in which they have engaged with CSA is the problem. The Members Council are elected representatives and our actions are not based on self-interest. This is not about the Members Council. I want to be very clear that we do not want conflict with the Minister, we are mindful of his rights but we have taken legal advice from outside lawyers over what is our responsibility to the public and the ICC.”