Ken Borland

Parliament’s sports portfolio committee duly received the full Fundudzi Report into the forensic affairs of Cricket South Africa on Friday, but not without having to go through legal gymnastics such as signing a non-disclosure agreement.

The members of the committee could get some decent weight training in if they print out the 486-page report and lug it around over the weekend. CSA were scheduled to meet again with the sports portfolio committee early next week, but depending on how much weekend leisure time the politicians are willing to give up, that could well be postponed given how long it will take to study the report properly.

A summary of the report was released to the media and other stakeholders, but not to parliament, by Cricket South Africa earlier in the week, much to the ire of the sports portfolio committee. They demanded that the full, unredacted report be given to them by close of business on Friday and CSA have complied.

While the summary focused on the failures and misdeeds of former CEO Thabang Moroe, it has caused a legal kerfuffle elsewhere in terms of some of the other names that were mentioned. CSA have been at pains to point out that the report has not been tested in court and is only the opinion and recommendations of the Fundudzi investigators. But already the other people named such as CSA human resources director Chantel Moon and parliamentary liaison officer Unathi Tshotwana, who has allegedly been exposed as being Service Provider X, have been tarnished without being given the opportunity to respond.

CSA issued a statement on Friday evening saying they had asked the chairperson of the sports portfolio committee, Beauty Dlulane, to declare the report as confidential.

“CSA has noted the public statement by the chairperson of the PPC to the effect that the PPC will sign a non-disclosure agreement in respect of the forensic report.  As such, and in accordance with the recommendation of the relevant Parliamentary Senior Legal Adviser, CSA has requested the chairperson of the PPC to make a ruling in terms of the relevant provisions of the Rules of the National Assembly, declaring that the forensic report is a confidential document.

“As publicly stated by CSA on various occasions and public platforms, the contents of the forensic report are confidential at this stage because it is a provisional report, because aspects of the report are subject to further investigation, and because public dissemination of the report at this stage may impair the integrity of the investigation process and undermine the implementation of remedial steps by CSA. It is for these reasons that CSA has, at this stage, released to the media a summary of the report, recording the substance of the provisional findings,” the statement said.

The full report, unlike the summary which was put together by CSA’s lawyers Bowmans, was sent to parliament directly by Fundudzi, so there should not be any redactions.

CSA did add that they would be consulting with Sascoc with a view to giving their president the report on the same basis as the sports portfolio committee.

But don’t expect any huge revelations to be coming out on social media over the weekend, because the lawyers have held sway.

The Bulls have looked to rectify their lack of big ball-carrying loose forwards by signing Springbok flank Jacques Potgieter on a three-year contract, the union confirmed at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old Potgieter, who is 6’4 and weighs 115kg, starred previously for the Bulls in 22 SuperRugby games in 2012-13, before becoming a high-profile player for the Waratahs. He joined the Sharks at the beginning of the year, but an ankle injury meant he never actually played a game for them, and John Smit, the CEO of the KwaZulu-Natal franchise, confirmed on Wednesday that they had released him from his contract. Potgieter is engaged to actress Angelique Gerber, whose career would be better served by them living in Gauteng.

“We always knew SuperRugby was going to be a battle on the gain-line, so we need good ball-carriers. We know what Jacques can do, we’ve seen how he’s played for the Bulls previously and for the Waratahs, so he’s definitely a good signing. At the beginning of the season we lost three loose forwards to injury at the same time, and Jacques also played four and seven for the Waratahs. Jannes Kirsten can do that too, and they both can really carry the ball,” coach Nollis Marais said.

High performance manager Xander Janse van Rensburg said Potgieter, who has been seen at practice this week already, will probably be ready to train in a week’s time. He will probably play in all three SuperRugby rounds after the June break.

The acquisition of Potgieter offsets the disappointment of losing hard-working flank Lappies Labuschagne to Japanese club Kubota at the end of the SuperRugby season.

Janse van Rensburg told The Citizen they are hopeful, however, that Labuschagne will be able to return to play for the Bulls in the 2017 SuperRugby campaign at the end of the Japanese season. The fact that Frans Ludeke is coach of Kubota means the Bulls obviously have a negotiating platform, but they did fire Ludeke last year.

Van Rensburg also announced the signing of Southern Kings tighthead prop Jacobie Adriaanse, who Marais described as “a very competitive scrummager who stood his ground against the Crusaders”.