Ken Borland

In an unprecedented move, Cricket South Africa company secretary Welsh Gwaza is set to be given his own personal assistant, but the controversial Thabang Moroe ally may find his empire-building cut short following the mentions of him in the Fundudzi Forensic Report released on Monday.

Asked to confirm on Monday whether CSA are busy with the appointment of a PA for Gwaza, CSA communications officer Sipho Rihlamvu said: “CSA considers vacancies based on each portfolio’s needs analysis and how the filling of such vacancies would best serve the organisation. These needs are presented to the relevant structures within CSA and signed off with the prerequisite approvals. Any consideration for the positions within CSA must satisfy the said criteria.”

Other sources have suggested Gwaza has requested a PA because of his “increased workload”, a sure sign that the company secretary is being given more responsibility and therefore more power.

But Gwaza could be one of the CSA staff members against which both Fundudzi and CSA’s lawyers, Bowmans Gilfillan have recommended disciplinary processes be started.

One of the most serious examples of misgovernance exposed by Fundudzi was the deal with Global Sports Commerce for the Mzansi Super League, which has now opened CSA up for losses of R27.5 million should GSC fail to honour the terms of the settlement. The CSA Board were given assurances by Gwaza, as well as former CEO Moroe and chief operating officer Naasei Appiah, who have both subsequently been fired, that due diligence had been done on GSC, but it was never presented to the Board, before Moroe authorised payment of R30 million to the sports management company.

Gwaza was also one of the Exco members who was aware that the South African Cricketers’ Association had not been paid the image rights money due to them from the 2018 MSL.

Other funds that CSA are trying to recover, as exposed by the Fundudzi Report, are the R3 019 244 given to ‘Service Provider X’ by Moroe and Appiah without following the Procurement Policies of CSA.

Moroe’s bungling of the step-in at the Western Province Cricket Association, with Fundudzi finding he misled the CSA Board, cost the federation R725 227 in costs awarded to WPCA by the arbitrator. His appointment of Chantel Moon, who was not qualified for the job, as head of human resources on a consultancy basis without following due process in August 2019 cost CSA nearly R1.7 million according to the report. Moon was also allegedly paid R1.25 million in 2017/18 for ad hoc HR work without a signed contract.

Appiah’s purchase of alcohol for R201 372 on the company credit card was also flagged by the forensic investigators, as was Moroe’s R64 830 booze bill.

In terms of loans to the affiliates, the WPCA owe CSA R57.7 million, while the total loan bill to all affiliates for stadium upgrades comes to nearly R169 million.

Most alarmingly, CSA could not provide the forensic investigators with documentation supporting the signing of the top 40 procurement contracts agreed between January 2016 and December 2019.

NSA Vulindlela were paid about R6.8 million for security services without a contract or Board approval, and without a tender process.

The Sharks have been the form team in South African rugby this year but following six months of Lockdown their daily focus has just been on returning to basics and trying to get sharper every day, according to star flyhalf Curwin Bosch.

How quickly the Sharks can regain the brilliance and momentum that took them to the top of the Super Rugby standings will be put to the test on Saturday when they take on a revamped Bulls side on SuperFan Saturday at Loftus Versfeld. Bosch was also the form flyhalf in South Africa before Lockdown and, with Handre Pollard out of rugby for the rest of the year, there will be plenty of focus on his own form with the Springbok No.10 jersey in mind.

“It will be tough for all of us to get that momentum back and it’s all about starting back at the basics once again. Saturday is the perfect opportunity for us to sharpen up our game and try out a couple of things we have been working on. We’re not looking too far ahead, we’re just going to take it game-by-game and hopefully we will improve every week.

“It’s great to be back and these are exciting times, but our bodies are still adjusting to contact and it’s going to be different with no crowds. Our approach this week is a bit different because we are preparing for the SuperRugby/Currie Cup competition that is coming up. But why change what we have been doing when obviously we have been doing something right?” Bosch said in a virtual interview on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old with two Test caps says the Sharks’ game-plan will once again revolve around playing a high-tempo game. Being at the fulcrum of that can only help Bosch’s chances of Springbok selection and he is surely closing the gap between himself and Elton Jantjies, who has been the spearhead of the Lions’ energetic style of play for so many years.

“We want to play with speed and tempo, so it’s going to be an interesting clash with the Bulls, because if you look along the lines of who they have signed, we expect a very physical game from their massive pack. I think the Bulls are going to try and slow us down, have a lot of set-pieces, while we will try to speed things up. We’re not looking to change much, just fine-tune what we’ve been trying to do.

“Personally, I’ve had a different approach this year with my main focus being on the Sharks and trying to help the team succeed. If I do that then Springbok selection will take care of itself. But I do see a bit of an opportunity to play number 10. It’s always my dream to play for the Springboks, that’s why I decided to stay at the Sharks. It was easy because we have become a special team in the last year,” Bosch says.

Cricket South Africa chief executive Jacques Faul admitted on Monday that the organisation were “a bit naïve and ambitious” to think the sport would be let out of its Covid-19 Lockdown cell as early as this weekend, following the postponement of the Solidarity Cup.

The new format of the game, devised by 3TCricket, and a return to onfield action were launched amid much fanfare last week, with SuperSport Park in Centurion set to stage the contest involving three teams playing a 36-over match on Saturday, June 27.

But by the weekend CSA were forced to backtrack as government said they had not yet approved the plans, despite director of cricket Graeme Smith saying SuperSport Park had been “cleared” and “permits were in place” for the event to take place.

“We were a bit naïve and ambitious with the date because it did not leave us with a lot of time to work through all the protocols. Because SuperSport Park is in a hotspot, we now need Department of Health approval too. But we will take it on the chin and plan better. We really want to seek the correct procedure and it’s not something we can just push through,” Faul told The Citizen on Monday in a phone call.

CSA expect to be able to announce a new date for the Solidarity Cup in a few weeks.

As part of their efforts to convince the Department of Sports and Arts and Culture that they have measures in place to ensure a safe return to cricket, CSA have conducted more than 100 Covid-19 tests on their staff and those of the franchises, including players. Sport24 revealed on Monday that seven of those tests had returned positive results.

But those safety processes now have to be approved by two government departments so the wait to get back out on to the cricket field will last a little longer.

But if thousands of golfers are out and about on hundreds of courses around the country, then it surely won’t be long before cricket, in what is going to be a tightly-controlled environment, returns too.

Graeme Smith and Jacques Faul made it abundantly clear this week that after their recent dealings with the BCCI they believe Saurav Ganguly is the right man to become the next International Cricket Council chairman, but their error was in not following the correct channels for such shows of support, which is through the Cricket South Africa Board.

Shashank Manohar’s term as ICC chairman is set to expire in July and the Indian has suggested he will not stand for another stint, meaning world cricket’s top post could be up for grabs at the ICC annual general meeting in a couple of months. Ganguly, the current president of the BCCI and the man who as captain of India began their blossoming as international superpowers, has been identified as a frontrunner to replace his compatriot.

Smith, who captained the Proteas against Ganguly’s Indian team, has reason to back him because the BCCI have been supportive of accommodating South Africa in the post-Covid Future Tours Programme, most notably by agreeing in principle to playing three T20 internationals here at the end of August.

“Strong leadership is going to be the key for cricket going forward and we need people who understand the modern game. I’ve known Saurav for a long time, he is highly-resected and is in the best position to be the new president [chairman] of the ICC, a very important position. It would be great to see him get in and good for the game because he’s got the credentials and the skills to take it forward,” Smith, South Africa’s Director of Cricket, said this week.

But his statements in a remote media conference were followed hours later by this statement from CSA president Chris Nenzani:

“We must respect both the ICC protocol and our own protocol in deciding which candidate to back. There have been no candidates nominated as yet and once such nominations have been made the Board of CSA will take its decision in terms of its own protocol. At the moment we don’t want to anticipate any candidates who may be nominated for this important position to lead the game we all love.”

What that means is that the CSA Board will decide who to back for ICC chairman and Nenzani will be the person casting that vote, not chief executive Faul nor Smith. It was not quite a knee in the groin from Nenzani to Smith, but certainly a reminder that his powers are largely restricted to the field of play and not the politics of the boardroom.

But providing the BCCI continue to support South African cricket, thereby indirectly providing the board members with the gravy-rich meals they so love, there is no reason South Africa and Nenzani would not back Ganguly.

Given the current financial state of Cricket South Africa, they need as much charity as they can get and India have the deepest pockets.