Ken Borland

It was an interesting day for CEOs of Cricket South Africa both past and present on Tuesday as the fired Thabang Moroe saw his plot to return to office delayed in the Labour Court and the acting incumbent Kugandrie Govender suffered the embarrassment of the organisation backtracking on her statement that White consultants would no longer be used unless there were exceptional circumstances.

Moroe approached the Labour Court on Tuesday to have his dismissal set aside because he believes the disciplinary process was unlawful, but he first of all had to convince the court that his application was urgent. CSA’s lawyers argued that the matter was not urgent and the court reserved judgement as to whether the matter should be held urgently or not. The court is expected to make its decision during the week.

Govender stated last week in a text message to Sport24 that following a meeting with the minister of sport Nathi Mthethwa, CSA “are now required to enforce Black consultants only until such time as the numbers are moving in the right direction and we can then revise this. It’s an internal measure to enforce that the change that should have happened organically over the years but didn’t, does actually now happen”.

The announcement created a storm of protest, with civil rights lobby group AfriForum threatening legal action against CSA and the Institute for Race Relations writing to the International Cricket Council to report the organisation for failing to respect the governing body’s constitution in terms of racial discrimination and political interference.

CSA issued a statement on Tuesday saying they were saddened by the media reports around their use of consultants. They called the stories “factually incorrect” even though they were quoting their own CEO verbatim.

“CSA has not taken and will not take a decision to work exclusively with Black consultants. The media reports around the statements made by our Acting Chief Executive are not a correct reflection of the sentiment that CSA had sought to convey. CSA therefore reiterates that it does not have a policy of excluding any racial grouping.

“As part of our corporate business model, CSA has adopted and subscribes to the country’s BBBEE Act and Affirmative Action policy. This means CSA has a moral and legal obligation to implement these two prescripts, while still embracing the need for all South Africans to live their cricketing dreams regardless of background, culture or ethnicity, and this includes the services that we procure from external service providers,” their statement said.

CSA went on to say transformation is a pillar for the organisation.

“It is, therefore, imperative that we constantly remind ourselves of its [transformation] importance in the way in which we conduct our business. As a democratic and non-racial institution, CSA is well aware of the need to provide equality and quality of opportunity to all and we do also emphasise that this has to be seen in the context of our unhappy history that for more than a century deprived the majority of our population from living their cricket dreams both on the field of play and in many other areas.”

The change of stance by CSA will now obviously attract the attention of Minister Mthethwa, who has been critical of the number of White faces in prominent positions at CSA. It is believed using exclusively Black consultants unless there are none available at the level required in order to keep the Proteas at the top end of the world rankings is exactly what CSA promised Mthethwa at their meeting last week.

It is also a loss of face for Govender, whose meteoric rise at CSA saw her appointed acting CEO on August 19 after Jacques Faul stepped down.

Paul Harris, whose expert knowledge of the physics of spin bowling has led to him being used as a Proteas bowling consultant, said on Wednesday that he is yet to receive any official confirmation from Cricket South Africa that his part-time services will no longer be used and that allegations he was earning astronomical amounts for his work are ridiculous.

CSA acting chief executive Kugandrie Govender has confirmed that they told the sports minister this week that from now on only Black people would be used as consultants and there has been speculation that the organisation was spending more than a million rand a month to use the services of Harris and batting coach Jacques Kallis.

Harris told The Citizen on Wednesday that while he could not speak for what South Africa’s leading run-scorer was earning, allegations of a million rand were farfetched.

“CSA have not said anything to me yet but all I want is for South African cricket to be better. If CSA or the spinners believe there is someone better to do that then they must go for it, if they feel I’m not the right person then they must use someone else, I have no problem with that. I’m sure someone like Robin Peterson would also do a great job, but he’s already got a full-time job as coach of the Warriors.

“I also have a full-time day job and since January I have not earned a cent from CSA, even though I’ve been helping the spinners in my own free time. Just the other day I was sent 10 videos and asked what I think, which I’m happy to do for nothing. Consultants generally get paid a higher rate per day than a full-time employee because they only work so many days in a month.

“But I don’t see how the consultants’ fees could add up to a million rand a month. In terms of myself, I earned nowhere near that, not even a quarter of that amount. I only worked 20 days for the Proteas over the whole of last summer,” Harris told The Citizen on Wednesday.

Harris was initially appointed as the spin bowling consultant after South Africa’s number one Test spinner Keshav Maharaj requested his help, and has subsequently been profusive in his thanks for the help of the fellow left-armer who played 37 Tests and played a key role in the Proteas gaining the number one ranking.

And it is not just Maharaj who Harris has been helping, the 41-year-old businessman now building relationships with the other spinners to match the great one he has with the Dolphins star.

With CSA adopting what would now seem to be a “No thanks, we’re fine” attitude towards enlisting the help of many White Proteas who took the country to number one across all three formats less than a decade ago, it is worth noting that South African consultants are paid considerably less than those former players who are helping countries like England, Australia and India.

Cricket South Africa’s decision to postpone their AGM until they first have clarity on what exactly is contained in the forensic reports they have commissioned was generally received as a rare bit of good news for the embattled organisation on Tuesday.

CSA were meant to stage their AGM on Saturday with a new president and several other directors meant to be elected, but that has now been put off indefinitely with the organisation saying they needed to first undergo a governance and structural review based on the recommendations of both the Fundudzi forensic report commissioned when former CEO Thabang Moroe was suspended and also the Nicholson Commission of Inquiry that dates all the way back to 2012 and related to the Gerald Majola bonus scandal.

Moroe was fired last week, with Kugandrie Govender appointed acting CEO, Jacques Faul having stood down from that temporary position the week before.

Most importantly, the postponement means the Members Council have for the first time stood united and flexed their muscle in bringing the Board to order and, crucially, they will now get to see the forensic report into Moroe which is believed to also implicate several Board members in misgovernance. The CSA Board initially refused to release the report to the Members Council, comprising the 14 provincial affiliates, even though they had commissioned the inquiry, and then said they had to peruse it at the Bowman Gilfillan legal offices, only after signing a non-disclosure agreement.

“It’s a win, definitely. It means we can get our house 100% in order before the AGM, it gives us more time to make sure of that. And we are optimistic that we will get access to the forensic report with conditions that won’t hamper us. This has come about because of pressure from the Members Council, who have now shown they have teeth. The Board now seems to be seeking our advice on things like the Memorandum of Incorporation [which formalises the governance structure of CSA],”  a Members Council representative told The Citizen on Tuesday, under promise of anonymity because acting president Beresford Williams has decreed that only he is allowed to speak to the media.

“It’s a positive, it gives us time to clear up our issues, although obviously the problem of the CEO [Moroe] won’t be amongst them because that’s probably going to be decided by a court case. But in terms of the Memorandum of Incorporation, the postponement gives the Members Council a clear opportunity to review that and they will also be able to see the forensic report, the Board is just crafting conditions around that,” another Members Council administrator said.

With South African cricket lurching through almost daily crises in recent times, both the Proteas men’s and women’s sides, through their players’ union SACA, issued a statement on Tuesday calling for CSA to put the good of the game as a whole first.

“As Proteas players, both men and women, we are concerned about the future of our game. At Board and operational level, CSA has lurched from crisis to crisis over the past year. Issues such as suspensions, dismissals, resignations, forensic audits, confidential leaks, litigation and financial mismanagement have dominated the cricket headlines. This is happening at a time when we are having challenging conversations about transformation, and in an environment where the financial viability of the game is under major threat.  
“High standards are expected of us as players. To succeed as Proteas teams, we know we have to put aside personal differences and work together. We require the same of our administrators. Politics and self-interest appear to trump cricket imperatives and good governance. Decisions must be made that are in the best interests of cricket, failing which the game we love may be irreparably damaged in this country. The Proteas teams must be strong, the domestic structure must be strong, and the transformation pipeline must be strong – we demand that this be the focus of the CSA Board and operational team.
“The CSA AGM scheduled for 5 September has now been postponed. This may be the last chance we have to change direction and save the game. As Proteas we demand that all stakeholders heed our sincere plea,” the statement read.

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.