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Beresford Williams (Rooster)
- The full board of the CSA is about to be dissolved by the Council of Members, following a resolution taken Thursday.
- CSA has been in crisis for almost a year, prompting the Sports Minister to warn of impending government intervention.
- Sources told Sport24 that the decision to dissolve the board could be ratified on Sunday.
The full board of Cricket South Africa (CSA) is about to be dissolved by the Council of Members, Sport24 can reveal.
A Member Council member, who was unable to speak officially due to a gag order on the body, confirmed that a resolution was made at a meeting Thursday to dissolve the current board until the annual general meeting, scheduled for December.
This came after two independent sources within cricket, one close to the Council of Members, another who was once a director, said Sport24 that the entire board had been forced to resign.
“The entire CSA board is out,” said the former director.
Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa increased the pressure on the CSA last week when he wrote a letter informing the crisis-ravaged organization of his intentions to intervene after seeing that it was “no longer worth participating.
Mthethwa had previously requested the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), which oversees sport in the country, to act in their power to address the CSA crisis.
Sascoc’s board resolved to organize a task force intervention, but that plan fell through on the water after CSA refused to hand over the Fundudzi Forensic Services report unless NDA agreements were signed, which Sascoc was not. Willing to do.
This stalemate led Mthethwa to intensify his intervention plans and inform the world cricket governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), of his plans. CSA was given until October 27 to respond.
The only way to avoid government intervention and avoid a possible blanket ban on cricket by the ICC was for CSA to adhere to multiple calls (from sponsors and stakeholders) for its board of directors to resign.
“That resolution was taken,” the source said of the Council of Members.
“There is a meeting on Sunday that will seal the resolution taken at yesterday’s meeting (Thursday).
“There are a number of proposals on the table and some things need to be finalized before a final decision is made.”
The source close to the Council of Members revealed some details of the meeting that led to the resolution to dissolve the board.
It appears that Acting President Beresford Williams was back on the cutting board, having been implicated several times in the Fundudzi report.
Among the proposals, according to the source, was that Williams resigned in place of the entire board, while other non-independent directors (representatives of the Board of Members’ Council) did.
However, the decision to dissolve the entire board prevailed.
“There were a number of options presented at the meeting,” the source said.
“The first was to take the minister legally, but the risk with that route is that the ICC would step in and probably ban all South African cricket.
“The second option was for the non-independent directors to resign and allow the independent directors to remain and steer the ship to the General Shareholders’ Meeting.
“Some proposed that only Beresford [Williams] resigned, due to the implications of the Fundudzi report.
“The other option was for the entire board to resign. They put it to the vote and opted for that option, which must be attended by everyone.
“Now they are working out the legal issues and are setting up an interim meeting for the December AGM. That structure will probably have the participation of Sascoc and the minister will be informed of the decision. “
It has also emerged that independent director Dheven Dharmalingam accepted the board’s proposal that the board members resign by submitting their resignation.
Sport24 received a copy of what is believed to be Dharmalingam’s letter addressed to the company’s secretary, Welsh Gwaza.
Letter of resignation from Dheven Dharmalingam:
Dear Secretary of the Board and of the Company
In addition to the recommendation made last night, I would like the Company Secretary to report to the Council of Members on my behalf as follows:
After last night’s Board meeting, I have not engaged with any director or anyone associated with CSA to make the following commitment.
I note that my appointment as an independent director is until the next Meeting, which will be no later than December 5, 2020.
I hereby confirm my agreement to resign as an independent director, if the Council of Members in their deliberations believes that this is in the best interest of CSA.
I remain committed to CSA and await the final resolution of the Council of Members.
Best regards
Dheven Dharmalingam
CSA had received urgent requests for comment and had not responded at time of publication.
