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South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi reacts with disappointment after losing the game during the ICC Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and New Zealand in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England on June 19, 2019 (© Gavin Barker / BackpagePix)
South Africa’s umbrella sports corps, Sascoc, is on a major collision course with one of its most important members, Cricket South Africa.
First published by Daily Maverick 168
Despite a relatively quiet week, by Cricket South Africa’s embarrassing standards of late, a number of problems have not gone away as the leadership struggles to survive.
If Cricket South Africa’s board of directors had worked so hard to bring the game along clear corporate governance guidelines and to hold on to power, the sport would not be in the current state of turmoil it is in.
The Sports Confederation and the South African Olympic Committee (Sascoc) intend to establish a task force to investigate a number of issues affecting CSA. Sascoc wants the CSA’s operational leadership to step aside while the investigation continues.
CSA does not accept this and has stated that it will not accept the terms Sascoc has set, leaving the South African sports corps on a major collision course with one of its most important members.
It was unavoidable, but CSA has been legally covered as a reason it will not deliver an independently commissioned forensic report to Sascoc. That report, which covers four years of financial and operational management at CSA, has literally been locked away.
Despite being commissioned by the Membership Council, the board will not allow anyone with the right to see it, unless they sign a confidentiality agreement (NDA). A source confirmed to DM168 that it is a “massively restrictive NDA.”
The report was produced by a company called Fundudzi. It is in the possession of the CSA Law Firm, Bowmans. CSA, on Bowmans’ recommendation, has restricted access to the report to the Council of Members (14 affiliate chairs) and the three independent directors of the board. Sascoc Acting Chairman Aleck Skhosana wants to see it and wants others on the proposed task force to see it as it will serve as a roadmap for their investigation. Skhosana refuses to sign an NDA to see him.
CSA has deepened and rejected that notion, raising the suspicion that whatever is in its 470 pages must contain damaging evidence against some or all of the board.
“No reasonable person can effectively investigate CSA matters without having full access to the report and without the assistance of legal or forensic experts,” Skhosana said. “None of us have forensic and investigative expertise or legal expertise. These things must be done by outsiders. ”
The Council of Members must make a decision on the whereabouts of the forensic audit, but that body is compromised because seven of the council members are board members. There is a complete conflict of interest.
“In regards to the provision of access to the forensic report, we, the Council of Members, fully understand Sascoc’s frustration at not having unrestricted access to a copy of the forensic report,” said the representative of the Council of Members and the non-executive board. member John Mogodi.
However, the distribution of the forensic report has significant potential legal implications. Therefore, we will have a separate discussion with Sascoc to resolve the issues related to the report in the meantime, allowing Bowmans to present the summary of the findings to the relevant Sascoc officials. ”
The word “major” in the statement is revealing. It reveals that everything that is contained in those pages is explosive and harmful. Waiting for CSA to solve a mess it created with the structures that created it is a fantasy.
The fact that Bowmans wrote the summary is also problematic. It should have been written by Fundudzi. Despite all its internal flaws and problems, Sascoc’s intervention through an independent task force is necessary if cricket stakeholders want to get closer to the truth of what has been going on.
CSA postponed its annual general meeting this month because the findings of the forensic report could have a major influence on nominations for various positions of power. People implicated in wrongdoing, incompetence and possibly fraud should not be allowed to stand.
That information must be passed along the chain of command to those who vote. The NDA will not allow that, a fact that is not lost on Skhosana. “We cannot be sure that there would have been adequate consultation with the members of the respective unions,” Skosana said. “How are they expected to get a proper mandate from their boards when they are not allowed to share the content of a report they commissioned with their boards? That is why the refusal to make the report available without restrictions is irrational and unreasonable. ”
The content of the forensic report is just one of several issues on the horizon for CSA, which are simply not being addressed because the sport is in a state of paralysis. Several labor disputes are pending with high-level officials recently fired or suspended.
CSA took nearly nine months to fire CEO Thabang Moroe, using the details contained in the forensic report to fire him. But they summarily laid off six other top staff members in that period, again suggesting the organization is making it up as they go. Corrie van Zyl, general manager of cricket, has been reinstated.
Five of the laid off employees – former COO Naasei Appiah, Ziyanda Nkuta (Senior Manager: Finance), Lundi Maja (Manager: Acquisitions), Dalene Nolan (PA COO) and Clive Eksteen (Head of Sponsorships) – have written to Sascoc to make sure their cases are part of the task force’s investigation.
“We wish to draw your attention to CSA matters that we hope will be dealt with in a way that not only does us justice, but also ensures that our fundamental human rights are respected as provided by the country’s constitution,” the five said in a letter. to Sascoc.
“We wish to state categorically that our subsequent suspensions and firings were part of a witch hunt designed to illegally remove us from the organization. With the exception of Corrie van Zyl, the rest of us have subsequently been expelled through rather arbitrary processes. ”
They describe 42 complaints of false charges, intimidation and procedural errors. “Our concern is that the CSA, through various officials, has deceived and continues to deceive Parliament, the Minister of Sports, Art and Culture and the public. In doing so, CSA has created a narrative that the organization’s problems are the result of irresponsible financial and stakeholder management for which we were suspended and in most cases fired.
The organization seeks to paint a picture in which it appears to have addressed the issue with our expulsion and to assure all stakeholders that this was done in accordance with the good governance, natural justice and law of the land.
This could not be further from the truth, as CSA has been dishonest in its dealings with us by completely abandoning any ethics that require that a disciplinary hearing be conducted in a legal, procedurally fair manner and in the best interest of organization and sport. . ”
Whatever the merits of the cases, it is clear that the CSA is unwilling or unable to correct its governance problems that lead to operational and financial armageddon for the sport.
As one source put it: “You know you suck when Sascoc has to help you.” That, for better or for worse, is the reality CSA faces because it is obviously incapable of helping itself. DM168
