Ken Borland

The provincial presidents on the Members Council who are in favour of the proposed changes to the governance of Cricket South Africa seem to be taking responsibility for solving the impasse with the Interim Board and Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa as six of the unions have now issued statements supporting a majority independent board and an independent chairperson.

It may still be a case of too little, too late though as Mthethwa mulls what action to take under Section 13 (5) of the Sports Act against CSA for missing their deadline to approve a new constitution ahead of an AGM.

On Wednesday, the Northerns and Mpumalanga cricket unions issued statements supporting the stance of Central Gauteng, North-West, Easterns and Free State that there should be a majority independent board and independent chairperson.

The two Highveld unions also called for all stakeholders to take part in a national indaba, steered by an independent mediator, to resolve the impasse as quickly as possible.

But in his letter to the Members Council on Tuesday night telling them he would be taking action against them according to the provisions of the Sports Act, Mthethwa said “your proposal to convene a multi-party stakeholder conference to deal with a matter that you have been seized with for a number of months, does not make sense to me.”

Because Mthethwa has the authority to no longer recognise CSA, it would mean South Africa could go back to the days of isolation and not have an official national team.

As the sports minister told a radio station on Tuesday night, if things continue the way they are, the world will have to be told there is no cricket in South Africa.

Cricket South Africa owe a great deal of thanks to the Brexiteers of the United Kingdom as their efforts have led to the return of some top-class players just as the domestic game heads into a new-look, uncertain future.

Because Brexit engineered Britain’s exit from the European Union, all Kolpak deals fell away and South Africans playing county cricket in England could no longer do that unless it was on the basis of them being registered as overseas players. Which would then allow them to play in – and for – South Africa.

And so the likes of Simon Harmer (Northerns), Kyle Abbott (Boland), Stiaan van Zyl (Boland), Duanne Olivier (Gauteng), Wayne Parnell (WP) and Hardus Viljoen (Boland) are all returning to the domestic game. Coupled with Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander coming out of retirement to play for Western Province and Chris Morris signing a contract with Northerns, it means a raft of invaluable experience and quality is returning to provincial cricket, which can only be good.

Some of those players have only been able to secure a one-year contract though, because the teams were only allowed to give out eight two-year contracts out of their squad of 16.

In terms of these players’ availability for the Proteas, there is nothing technically stopping them from being called up. Although some of them, most notably fast bowler Olivier, left South Africa in awkward circumstances. As an organisation, Cricket South Africa had the right to feel snubbed in certain cases.

National coach Mark Boucher was asked recently specifically about Olivier’s chances of a Proteas recall and what he described would apply to all of the returning players.

“A lot of things need to happen. He needs to show form in our system, we can’t judge him on what he’s done in the past for South Africa or overseas. Then we need to ask whether he fits into our culture, will he show good attitude and are the other guys happy to have him. If he can tick all those boxes then we would welcome him back,” Boucher said.

Cricket South Africa sadly faces suspension by the Minister of Sport after Nathi Mthethwa rejected the Members Council’s plea for a seven-day extension to sort out their impasse with the Interim Board over the introduction of a majority independent board and independent chairperson.

Having given the Members Council until 5pm on Tuesday to show cause as to why he should not take action against them following their weekend failure to approve the Interim Board’s governance proposals, Mthethwa informed the provincial presidents on Tuesday night that he considered their response “to fall short of addressing the subject of showing cause why I should not apply the provisions of Section 13 (5) of the Sports Act based on your failure to implement a critical aspect of the mandate I gave the Interim Board”, according to a letter which The Citizen has seen.

The Sports Act allows for Mthethwa to withdraw government recognition of CSA, which would prevent them from participating in international cricket, thus surely leading to their suspension from the International Cricket Council and dooming the local game to amateur status.

There is clearly a massive gorge in opinion between what most observers believe are the minister’s powers and what the Members Council are banking on, because Mthethwa mentions “a lack of alignment with my interpretation of the powers provided to me by the Sports Act”.

Mthethwa points out that in his meeting with the Members Council and the Interim Board 10 days ago, there was agreement on the desirability of a majority independent board. He also mentions a letter the Members Council sent to the Interim Board saying the only remaining item for discussion was the definition of non-independent directors.

“Your proposal to convene a multi-party stakeholder conference to deal with a matter that you have been seized with for a number of months does not make sense to me. … I do not understand what would be achieved by a further seven-day extension when you were part of a conference that announced a roadmap that targeted April 17 as a completion date,” Mthethwa said.

The gorgeous irony is that several provinces are now rallying behind the lead of Gauteng and North-West, who called on the Members Council to approve the new constitution. But it is too little, too late.

It is not known whether Cricket South Africa’s Members Council mourned their earlier delaying tactics and scheming, but on Tuesday, as their deadline to accept the governance changes proposed by the Interim Board passed, they requested another extension from Sports Minister Nathi Mtethwa.

Mthethwa had given the Members Council until 5pm on Tuesday to show cause why he should not take action against CSA following their failure at the weekend to accept a majority independent board and an independent chairperson. From an interview the sports minister gave to a radio station on Tuesday night, it seems the Members Council did respond on Tuesday evening.

It is believed Mthethwa will decide on appropriate action overnight.

But having dragged out negotiations for so long, and then finally tried to negotiate at the last hour, it would be understandable if the Minister were to give them short shrift.

A Members Council statement issued earlier on Tuesday is likely to form the basis of their last-ditch appeal to Mthethwa. In the statement, they said they did not have enough time to study and react to the final draft of the Memorandum of Incorporation. They said the Interim Board only gave them the draft less than a day before the Special General Meeting.

The Members Council were not happy that the issue of Sascoc not allowing the CSA constitution to be amended without their approval has not yet been resolved and that the MoI makes provision for just four non-independent directors and not the five that had allegedly been agreed upon earlier. Some provincial presidents are also not willing to accept an independent chairperson of the board and the Interim Board also being the nominations committee for the independent directors.

But Gauteng and North-West issued a statement on Tuesday distancing themselves from the rest of the Members Council and supporting a majority independent board and an independent chairperson. Their stance is believed to be supported by at least three other provinces and Northerns also look likely to accept the amendments to the constitution.