Ken Borland

Judging by the summary of the Fundudzi Forensic Report released by Cricket South Africa on Monday, it would seem dismissed CEO Thabang Moroe failed “to act with the degree of care, skill and diligence that may reasonably be expected” on an almost daily basis and the report exposes just how shambolic the running of the game had become under his watch and that of the Board.

The Fundudzi Report was commissioned, according to non-independent director John Mogodi in his presentation on Monday, to “investigate various governance issues, lapses in CSA controls and governance oversights” between January 2016 and December 2019. And it uncovered an extensive list of actions and inactions that justified disciplinary measures against Moroe.

But certain other staff members, most notably former chief operating officer Naasei Appiah, who was dismissed in mid-August, are also implicated in misgovernance and the Board itself is accused of dereliction of their fiduciary duties.

Moroe, however, is mentioned a dozen times: for contravening the CSA Code of Conduct when he revoked five journalists’ media accreditation, his failure to ensure the South African Cricketers’ Association were paid their image rights timeously which amounted to treating the players’ union with disdain and causing CSA to suffer reputational damage; several instances where he failed to follow procurement protocols and did not act in the best interests of CSA; misleading the Board when it came to exercising their step-in rights with the Western Province Cricket Association, and in failing to ensure due diligence was done in signing Global Sports Commerce for the Mzansi Super League; excessive credit card expenditure and the irregular appointment of a consultant who was not qualified for the post as head of human resources.

The fact that the CSA Board were so easily misled by Moroe and others will tickle those who have long stated that many of the directors are not fit for office.

Former independent director Mohamed Iqbal Khan and current acting president Beresford Williams were both accused of contravening the Companies Act due to a conflict of interest surrounding FinCom’s decision to make loans to the Western Province Cricket Association.

The Board also approved the agreement with GSC despite never being shown the due diligence report they had previously insisted on and GSC’s failure to provide a bank guarantee. Only 8% of the R169 million the Board has approved in loans to their affiliates for stadium upgrades has been paid back since May 2017, with several of the provincial presidents that benefit from the loans sitting on the CSA Board.

Fundudzi also found that CSA have had no effective internal audit unit for the last four years and the extension of Khan and Dawn Mokhobo’s terms as independent directors last year contravened their own Memorandum of Incorporation.

Mogodi said CSA’s lawyers, Bowmans Gilfillan, had recommended disciplinary processes against other employees of CSA and that although it was still early days in terms of those investigations, “we have already taken action on many findings and the Board are determined to act without fear or favour. We will not tolerate fraud, corruption or mismanagement”.

Fundudzi recommended criminal charges be laid in respect of the Service Provider X deal which saw Moroe and Appiah, without following the correct procurement processes, approve payment of nearly R3.5 million for services that have not been delivered.

The Members Council ‘owned’ the Fundudzi Forensic Report auditing the affairs of Cricket South Africa in the wake of the suspension of then-CEO Thabang Moroe from the moment they commissioned it last December and they are hopeful that they will finally get to see it without onerous conditions this weekend.

CSA announced in the early hours of Friday morning that the CSA Board of Directors and the Members Council would hold “a joint workshop this weekend to discuss critical matters” and while their statement was in response to Sascoc’s intervention in their affairs revealed on Thursday evening, provincial presidents have confirmed to The Citizen that Saturday’s agenda includes a discussion of the forensic report, which was completed in June.

“We will all be under one roof and hopefully we will at least get a partial view of the report that we will dissect and analyse. I’m pretty sure the forensic report will be made available, or at least what can be made public knowledge will be. This weekend is really make-or-break time for Cricket South Africa, I believe. And then hopefully we will meet with Sascoc on Sunday,” a Members Council delegate told The Citizen on Friday.

According to a president of a major CSA affiliate, efforts to get the organisation, which has postponed the AGM they were meant to hold on September 5, back on track by allowing the Members Council to be informed of any other directors or staff implicated in the misgovernance which saw Moroe being formally dismissed last week, have been hampered by the seven Board members who also sit on the Members Council.

“I’m disappointed by the Members Council to be honest, we just seem unable to make a decision, some representatives are just going along with whatever the Board members say,” the president said.

“There are seven other members of the Members Council and three of them have been especially vocal, but there seems to be a very serious conflict of interest amongst the Board because some of them earn double what their normal income would be by being directors. It’s a flaw in the system but Sascoc are dealing with the Members Council as we look at our Memorandum of Incorporation as well.”

According to their constitution, CSA have to hold an AGM by November 5.

While sports minister Nathi Mthethwa praised Cricket South Africa on Friday for the establishment of their Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) project, he also used the launch as a convenient time to call for the organisation to release the forensic report into fired former CEO Thabang Moroe and called for the election of fresh leaders at the AGM on September 5.

CSA on Friday announced that Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, a man of significant stature who has served as an acting judge, a Truth and Reconciliation commissioner and is a sought-after legal academic overseas, will be the ombudsman and face of SJN. They also announced nine ambassadors who will help foster the transformation and nation-building objectives of the project in their communities – former Proteas Dinesha Devnarain, Shandre Fritz, Gary Kirsten, Lance Klusener, Marcia Letsoalo, Nulubabalo Ndzundzu, Makhaya Ntini, Geoff Toyana and Monde Zondeki.

The good news of the SJN launch followed the day after Moroe was formally fired with immediate effect by CSA, having been suspended since early December. The CSA Board have refused to make public, even to their own Members Council, the forensic report upon which Moroe’s verdict of being guilty of misconduct was based, but Mthethwa said on Friday in an online address that he expects the organisation to table the report when they meet with him next week.

Many critics believe the CSA Board don’t want to release the report because they are implicated in the same wrongdoing for which Moroe was dismissed.

“I am pleased with the move to establish the SJN project, it is a step in the right direction in the fight for transformation and they heave heard the cries of their ex-cricketers and listened to people like former president Ray Mali on how hurt he is about cricket. This will fight any sort of exclusion, South Africa is so rich in talent but we are not employing our full capacity.

“But when we meet next week for me to respond to CSA’s turnaround plan and the corrective steps they are going to take for the challenges they are facing, I also expect them to share with me and government the forensic report they promised last year to show me when it was available. I look forward to that and then the AGM is in CSA’s hands.

“But the leaders elected should be beyond reproach. Government would frown upon people being elected with questionable credentials. There is a cloud gripping cricket and they definitely need to make a clean move away from that. I would not be happy with a process that is opposed to that,” Mthethwa said.

The irony of a government minister saying CSA should not elect leaders of dubious integrity was exacerbated by where the launch was held, which will also be the location of the ombudsman’s office – Olympic House – the home of Sascoc, themselves embroiled in numerous governance scandals.

Nevertheless, Dr Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw, the CSA independent director in charge of transformation, had reason to be enthusiastic about the new body they have rapidly formed in response to the racial storm that has tarnished South African cricket. But despite the impressive figure in charge of SJN and the good intentions shown on Friday, the power that will determine the success of SJN, and whether it will actually improve the lot of future marginalised cricketers, lies with the CSA Board.

“The ombudsman will recommend to the Board what action should be taken, but the aim of the SJN is to engage, heal and restore. If we are mature enough then we can find something positive out of what is revealed, we do not want a legalistic approach. We will be looking at legacy issues and the lessons from the ombudsman will inform how we move forward. “We will support transformation in the rural areas, aggressively, and it’s all about how we make sure those issues do not happen again. The SJN will be integrated with the transformation committee, but as someone said, our future cricketers are not born to be part of what failed. This time around we really will transform and we have to make sure that it is not just on paper but seen on the field,” Kula-Ameyaw said.

Sanzaar CEO Andy Marinos said on Saturday that cross-border rugby between South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina needed to continue, but whether he was just talking about the Rugby Championship or also SuperRugby surviving in something similar to its current format seems to still be classified information.

New Zealand Rugby seem to have already taken the decision to pull out of SuperRugby, while South Africa seem to be looking more and more into throwing in their lot with European competition. Australia are desperately trying to stay joined with their Kiwi neighbours, while Argentina are probably just hanging on to whatever scraps they can get.

But Marinos disagreed with the current narrative that Sanzaar’s partners are all trying to jump ship when he spoke in an SA Rugby Legends webinar on Saturday.

“We are busy working through our 2021 plans, but the whole return-to-play is not easy to navigate, you have Product A and then 24 hours later you have to change to Product B. The challenge is cross-border rugby because of all the government and medical controls and access to flights. We have to be realistic: The individual unions are responsible for keeping rugby alive and sustainable in each of their markets and then they can look at the feasibility of cross-border competition.

“But we are working through this as a joint venture. A round-robin structure next year is not looking that optimistic because flying won’t be that easy yet. But there is a strong acknowledgement that cross-border rugby needs to be in place in the future. Playing against players from other countries only makes our nations stronger internationally, that’s what has allowed the Sanzaar nations to be the dominant force in world rugby,” Marinos said.

The former Stormers and Wales centre denied that there was anything wrong with SuperRugby as a product and said the attacking nature of the competition has played a major role in the success of the four Sanzaar nations at the World Cup.

“The impact on the bottom line has been significant but it’s not because of poor delivery or a lack of quality or interest in the product. I would unashamedly say we have some of the best players in the world and we’ve seen that at the World Cup. The strength we’ve got is that the toughness of the competition and the global expansion of SuperRugby means our players are used to adapting to different conditions and being on the road for long periods.

“The Northern Hemisphere players don’t have that benefit, they have one-hour flights and they’re away for a weekend. The conditions we play under, plus the fact we put more air on the ball – there’s a very attacking mindset and the teams are as positive as possible – has played a significant role in the World Cup results. And with New Zealand and Australia playing again, we have seen an upturn in people coming back to the game, and SuperRugby can start regenerating itself,” Marinos said.