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Thabang Moroe, CEO of Axed Cricket South Africa. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)
Cricket South Africa released a summary of Fundudzi’s forensic report on Monday and the picture that emerges is that former CEO Thabang Moroe is being lined up as the top scapegoat.
It is progress. Slow and painful progress, but progress nonetheless. Cricket South Africa (CSA), which has been in possession of a full forensic audit detailing poor governance issues for two months, finally let the world take a look on Monday.
A 46-page summary of the 450-page full Fundudzi report landed in the media email boxes, following a 37-minute statement from John Mogodi, a delegate from the board and the Council of Members. There were more details on the summarized pages, but in reality, most of the issues described have been in the public domain for months.
The summary almost completely omits the role the CSA board has played in the mess the organization is in, which hopefully addresses some of the other 90% of the unpublished report.
Mogodi described the reason behind CSA’s reluctance to share the full report. But he did not accept questions. He finished his statement and the Zoom meeting ended abruptly.
“I reiterate what has been said in various meetings, media briefings, interviews and various communications with stakeholders: the forensic report was commissioned to be used as an internal document, and was never intended to be released to the public.” Mogodi said.
The report details numerous allegations against Moroe, who was fired in August based on the findings contained therein. He appears to have violated the Corporation Law at least 12 times according to the report.
One of the charges against Moroe is that his reckless decision to exercise CSA’s “intervention” rights and take over the management of the Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) ultimately cost CSA R565,000 after the province will win an arbitration case to have the decision overturned.
That’s all well and good, but current board member Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw spent R520,000 on a full-page Sunday newspaper ad without executive approval. She also issued a threatening tweet to sponsor Momentum, which had just removed its sponsorship of international men’s one-day cricket. CSA was forced to issue a public apology for that outburst, while Kula-Ameyaw has not apologized. Ten days after a disciplinary hearing, CSA has not said anything about your case. She is still a member of the board.
Findings from the Fundudzi report
Fundudzi’s report covered a 48-month period from 2016 to December 2019. It investigated “various governance issues and allegations related to possible failures of controls and insufficient executive oversight within CSA.”
According to Bowmans, the CSA attorney, who prepared the summary, is nothing more than an analysis by Fundudzi of what they learned during their investigation. The Fundudzi Report is not a court ruling and its findings and conclusions have not been proven.
The full Fundudzi Report covered 24 topics / areas of concern. Among them are Moroe’s handling of relationships with the South African Cricket Players Association (Saca) and a suspicious hiring of services from a mysterious company listed as “Service Provider X”, which cost CSA a total of R3.49 million without refund.
The investigation aimed to establish whether the CSA board adhered to effective principles of corporate governance. It also aimed to determine if “effective internal controls existed; if the key subcommittees reasonably relied on management information and applied reasonable levels of professional skepticism to such information before recommending such proposals for board approval.
Moroe is at the center of most of the issues raised by Fundudzi, but other people are also named such as former COO Naasei Appiah and current acting president Beresford Williams. Williams in connection with a potential conflict of interest over a loan to the WPCA when he was union president and Appiah for credit card abuse.
Fundudzi confirmed transactions related to the purchase of alcohol for a total of R201 372.80 and R64 830.50 by Appiah and Moroe respectively.
“The Fundudzi Forensic Report contains extensive information about the organization, individuals and third parties, which we, as Cricket South Africa, have not been able to fully investigate, corroborate or clarify thus far,” said Mogodi.
“While we do not claim that the report is inaccurate, it is important to understand that Fundudzi’s forensic analysis is a one-sided report, and not all of the above persons or parties have had an opportunity to respond to the findings thus far. .
“For current or potential litigation on matters related to this report, the identity of certain persons or entities will not be disclosed at this time as such disclosure may harm the interests of those legal parties or CSA, and could potentially harm any action that CSA is carrying out or can take accordingly “.
And the board?
The constant theme that comes up throughout the summary and in Mogodi’s statement is that Moroe was at the center of the problems. He is instrumental in everything that went wrong.
But what is less clear is where was the board in all this?
In the first place, it was the board that appointed Moroe, who was not qualified for the job. That was expressed in media reports at the time of their appointment and they were dismissed as malicious.
Second, as Moroe went from one mistake to another, the board offered little or no resistance and almost no oversight. The summary report only expressly mentions the board’s “abandonment of duties” once, in connection with a contract signed with Global Sports Commerce (GSC) to sell commercial rights to the Mzansi Super League (MSL). But the constant theme that comes up is that the board allowed Moroe great latitude.
In a damning summary of the board’s actions that have cost CSA more than R27 million in the failed deal with GSC, Fundudzi states:
- The Board did not receive or consider a due diligence report prior to approval of the agreement with GSC.
- The Board of Directors approved the Framework Agreement without the due diligence report.
- The Board was complacent in approving the Framework Agreement without ensuring that due diligence was carried out at GSC.
- The Board’s conduct appears to be an abandonment of their fiduciary duties in terms of Section 76 (3) of the Corporation Law in the sense that they may not have acted: in good faith and for a proper purpose; in the best interest of CSA; and with the degree of care, skill and diligence that can reasonably be expected of a person.
The CSA hierarchy, which will face questioning by Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa and others in an appearance before the Sports Portfolio Committee on Tuesday, reiterated that the problems are theirs to solve.
The Sports Confederation and the South African Olympic Committee (Sascoc) wanted to create a task force to investigate CSA. But that move has been blocked by CSA and Sascoc has asked Mthethwa to intervene. Doing so will be a violation of the International Cricket Council (ICC) membership regulations. DM
