Ken Borland

The days of the Cricket Capturers using the game for their own benefit at their leisure would appear to be coming to an end after Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa on Friday announced a Cricket South Africa interim board of directors that boasts a fearsome array of skills to block the selfish ambitions of even the most determined of parasitic administrators.

Retired Constitutional Court justice Judge Zak Yacoob will chair the board and given the stature of the man and the moral leadership he has already brought to the country, malfeasance will be given short shrift under his watch.

It is especially pleasing to see Omphile Ramela, the president of the players’ union (the South African Cricketers’ Association), on the board. At just 32 years old, Ramela is still an active player, scoring 75 for Gauteng in his last match just before Lockdown, but it is probably fair to say that the best days of this former SA A batsman’s playing career are probably over. I have long felt that Ramela is just the sort of person the CSA Board needs – young, erudite, well-qualified (with a Masters degree in Economics) and with a strong cricketing background.

As Mthethwa stressed on Friday, Ramela will now need to step down as the president of SACA to avoid any conflicts of interest, but I am excited to see the contribution he can now make in the boardroom. He has been a brave, outspoken critic of CSA for a few years now, so I am sure that he will have a powerful voice on the interim board.

I am also delighted to see Judith February appointed. A lawyer by training and a governance expert, February works for the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Institute for Security Studies, while writing part-time for numerous publications on social and governance issues. Watching cricket seems to be one of her favourite recreations and, judging by her outstanding critiques of CSA in publications such as The Daily Maverick, she certainly has her finger on the pulse.

I was shocked – although also chuffed – to hear Haroon Lorgat’s name announced. As the previous CEO before all the shenanigans started at CSA, and a victim of what amounted to a coup by the Cricket Capturers, Lorgat probably is conflicted, but those who are up to no good in CSA will not be sleeping easy knowing that he is now on the interim board.

Knowing Lorgat’s assiduous attention to detail, he won’t be wasting any time either in presenting a formidable case for a large-scale clean-up to Yacoob and the other ‘independents’ nominated by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture – Caroline Mampuru, the deputy head of the Special Investigative Unit, and Stavros Nicolaou, a senior executive for a major pharmaceutical company.

One of the major criticisms of the previous directors of CSA and their enablers on the Members Council has been how lily-livered they have been in dealing with obvious flouting of good governance rules and even though one of the old guard, former Easterns president Xolani Vonya, has made it on to the interim board, I expect the recalcitrant administators who want to keep CSA as their own gravy train are going to wilt like pansies in the blazing heat of the subcontinent in the face of the integrity and quality of the rest of the directors.

The other Members Council nominations were Andre Odendaal, a good cricket man who has been involved at almost every level of the game – a first-class player, an administrator and a renowned historian, especially when it comes to Black cricket; and Andile Dawn Mbatha, a high-ranking financial official at the Independent Electoral Commission. A look at her social media makes one wonder if she is not just another Dr Eugenia – all I could see was expensive cars, lots of selfies, retweets of EFF posts and the occasional football mention – but let’s hope not. She is also listed on the National Treasury’s e-tender website as being the recipient of a government tender.

After the enormous con that the former Cricket South Africa Board has been, we can only cheer the good and capable people who have been willing to stand for this interim board and wish them all the best in cleaning up the mess, stench and decay of the boardroom that has become the public image of CSA.

They are obviously not going to be able to produce overnight miracles and the presence and obstinacy of so many of the old guard on the Members Council could slow the pace of reform, but the intervention of the Sports Minister does now seem to have borne some fruit.

Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa has already accepted that there is no way Cricket South Africa will be able to hold their AGM on December 5, but that does not mean the new interim board of directors he announced on Friday are there for a holiday.

Mthethwa tasked the interim board with completing their mandate within three months, although he did leave the door open for their term of office to be extended.

“The interim board need to hit the ground running and deal with the current governance and structural issues. They should aim to implement the Nicholson Commission recommendations, consider the Fundudzi Forensic Report and take the recommended action or whatever action they deem to be appropriate, review all board decisions made since 2019 and restore the integrity and reputation of CSA.

“They have three months to do this, but that may be extended based on their progress. We hope they will deliver because this group knows exactly what it has to do and the Members Council still has an obligation to ensure their work is moving well. But there is no way December 5 can remain as the date for their AGM, which could have been avoided if certain people had listened earlier,” Mthethwa said on Friday.

The new interim board of directors is chaired by Judge Zak Yacoob, a former justice of the Constitutional Court, and includes other ‘independent’ figures in Caroline Mampuru, the deputy head of the Special Investigative Unit, Stavros Nicolaou, a senior executive for a major pharmaceutical company, and Andile Dawn Mbatha, the chief financial officer of the Independent Electoral Commission.

But a trio of passionate cricket-lovers who have gone to town in recent times in their criticism of the organisation and the recently-resigned board have also found accommodation on the interim board.

The most astonishing appointment is that of Haroon Lorgat, who has been at the forefront of CSA’s critics and was the federation’s chief executive as recently as September 2017, before being deposed by the power bloc that included Thabang Moroe, whose tenure and subsequent suspension and firing have been central to CSA’s governance crisis. But Lorgat is an internationally-respected administrator who is a former CEO of the International Cricket Council and CSA was a stable organisation during his watch.

Omphile Ramela, the president of the South African Cricketers Association, has also been a strident critic of CSA on behalf of the players, while Judith February is a lawyer and governance expert for the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Institute for Security Studies, as well as a respected columnist who has also expressed her dismay over the administration of a sport she is clearly passionate about.

Andre Odendaal, the former CEO of the Western Province Cricket Association and the Cape Cobras, is another appointee, who has had a long history in the game as a first-class player, administrator and historian.

There is also a member of the old guard on the interim board in Xolani Vonya, the recently-resigned Easterns president who has been a strong supporter of both Moroe and company secretary Welsh Gwaza, who has been seen as a stumbling block to change at the organisation.

Vonya has been a controversial figure because the Easterns union have been wanting to get rid of him for many months, including holding a vote of no confidence against him, but Moroe and Gwaza gave him legal support to fight his removal.

It says a lot for the speed with which the Cricket South Africa Members Council and the Sports Minister want to have an interim board in place that Nathi Mthethwa will name the new temporary directors as early as midday on Friday.

But the haste has also upset several of CSA’s affiliates, who feel they have not had sufficient time to apply their minds properly and get the best candidates for the crucial positions. Controversy – never far from CSA – has also erupted with one of the three Members Council nominations, Xolani Peter Vonya, who resigned as Easterns president last weekend, apparently rejected by Minister Mthethwa because he is not considered independent enough.

Vonya is a hugely controvesial figure, who fought tooth and nail to stay on the Members Council, despite his own union casting a vote of no confidence in him, and his strongest supporters were fired CSA chief executive Thabang Moroe and current company secretary Welsh Gwaza, whose hold on power has raised serious concerns for many administrators.

The Members Council’s other two nominees were Andre Odendaal, the former Western Province and Cape Cobras CEO who has been a general Mr Fix-It for CSA, and Andile Dawn Mbatha, who is the chief financial officer of the Independent Electoral Commission but who has no cricket connections, judging by her social media posts, which are full of expensive cars, selfies and the occasional football reference. She is listed on the National Treasury’s e-tender website as being the recipient of a government tender.

Mthethwa wants the interim board to comprise nine people – three of them nominated by the Members Council, three by Sascoc and the South African Cricketers’ Association, and three by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.

CSA affiliates were apparently sent an e-mail after 9pm on Tuesday night asking for nominations for the interim board, but these had to be in by 11am on Wednesday morning, with full CVs provided. After an outcry from the unions, who complained that the sort of high-profile figures who should be nominated could not be expected to agree to be available and provide detailed CVs at such short notice, the deadline was extended to 11am on Thursday.

The names that the Members Council, which still comprises a healthy portion of the former Board, have provided do not fill one with huge confidence , but it is essential that quality administrators, strong on corporate governance and cricket knowledge, are appointed because they not only have to oversee the daily running of an organisation that is under immense pressure, but also the redrafting of the Memorandum of Incorporation to ensure the CSA Board is never again embroiled in the sort of regular scandals and mismanagement that have characterised them for the last few years.

The Imperial Lions made some impressive acquisitions ahead of this season but, for at least the opening couple of weekends, like an unsuccessful Christmas gift that needs to be returned to the shops on December 27, all four of their marquee signings could well sit out the opening 4-Day Domestic series match against the Dolphins in Durban, given the riches in personnel that the defending champions possess.

Lutho Sipamla is a Protea and a rising star in the South African fast bowling ranks, but with Eldred Hawken named as the Lions player of the season for 2019/20 and Malusi Siboto always such a reliable performer, whether Sipamla gets a game could depend on whether Beuran Hendricks, who took five wickets the last time he bowled in a Test, is fully fit.

If Sipamla can’t get a game on Monday, what chance Sisanda Magala, who is close to making his Proteas debut, and Tladi Bokako?

And it is not just in the bowling department where the Lions have tremendous depth. Judging by last season, there are five batsmen who are pretty sure of their places in Reeza and Dominic Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, captain Temba Bavuma and wicketkeeper Nicky van den Bergh.

That means new signing Wesley Marshall could well be on the bench, along with bright talents such as Josh Richards, Kagiso Rapulana and Ryan Rickelton. Only one of them can probably play, while the presence of Dwaine Pretorius, the incumbent Proteas Test all-rounder, probably means there will be no space for exciting all-rounders like Wiaan Mulder and Delano Potgieter.

“We are fortunate to have a lot of experienced players and internationals to choose from, guys who don’t need much coaching. But it’s going to be all about managing the players and ensuring the environment is conducive to us playing our best cricket. The first two rounds of the competition are going to be massive with all the Proteas taking part.

“That’s the standard that we as players look forward to, strength versus strength so we can really test ourselves as we try to win back the confidence of the supporters and their trust in the game. We have a culture of excellence at the Lions and the many quality players we produce is indicative of our world-class facilities and coaches,” Bavuma said.

The Lions have set a target of winning their third successive four-day title, which is unprecedented since unity and was last achieved by the Transvaal Mean Machine between 1982/3 and 1984/85. Bavuma said any trophies won this season would be the products of sticking to their brand of cricket.

“Our goal is to retain the title again, because three-in-a-row has never been done. There are only seven games, so we need momentum early on, so our first priority is to get going against strong opposition in the Dolphins at home. We want to see everything done in preparation come to fruition, but not a lot needs to change, we just want to keep on playing aggressive and positive cricket.

“Our batting is quite stable and with our bowling, the challenge is going to be to get the combinations going because we have a couple of new faces. But our strategy will remain the same,” Bavuma said.