[ad_1]
Minister of Sport, Art and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa. (Photo: Flickr / GCIS)
After two weeks of relative calm, Cricket South Africa came into conflict on Thursday when the Council of Members rejected the authority of the newly appointed interim board.
The Council of Members of Cricket South Africa, the highest decision-making body in sport, has entered a state of risky politics with Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa after effectively firing the CSA interim board. South African cricket is in a state of civil war.
“The Cricket South Africa Members Council announced today that it will not appoint the interim board,” CSA said in a statement Thursday.
“Following various engagements and a meeting between the Council of Members, the proposed CSA interim board, Minister Nathi Mthethwa and members of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, the Council of Members has written to the Minister to raise material concerns about the Proposed interim meeting.
“The issues include several unresolved issues; exceeding and ignoring agreed duties, responsibilities and lines of accountability; and ultimately a breakdown in the relationship between the Council of Members and the proposed interim board. ”
In other words, the Council of Members did not like the kind of probing and awkward questions that the interim board conducted. Which is precisely what he intended to do.
October 30 Mthethwa appointed a new interim board to pull CSA out of a quagmire after a series of chaotic governance problems. The nine-person board includes former CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat, whose appearance has also upset the Council of Members, although he did not raise any formal concerns when he was appointed.
It is clear that the Council of Members has spent the last two weeks plotting a way out of the situation.
He has effectively defied the country’s sports minister despite being an integral part of the massive problems facing the CSA, having stood on the sidelines and allowed the previous CSA board to ground the sport. If before it was not clear, now it is very clear that the so-called CSA leadership is only interested in self-preservation.
Insiders have said Daily maverick that the Council of Members has been shaken by the speed and aggressiveness with which the interim board, chaired by the respected judge Zak Yacoob, has set out to dig into the rot.
The fact that up to seven members of the Membership Council were also on the previous board that was effectively fired by Mthethwa was always going to create problems.
The sport is being torn apart and the people supposedly chosen to protect it have only shown an appetite to protect their positions. The Council of Members hides behind processes and legalities as justification for removing the interim board. The end result is unlikely to benefit the game in any way and the next move now belongs to Mthethwa.
In a ridiculous situation, which would be ridiculous if it were not so serious, the interim board has promised to fulfill the obligations established by the minister, while the Council of Members prevents him from doing so.
Only one person can play as a referee, and that is the sports minister. His only remaining card is to suspend CSA as the organization representing South African cricket, which will have massive ramifications with the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The interim board is committed to fulfilling its mandate
Yacoob, despite CSA’s hostile stance, remained measured, thoughtful and firm in his response to the crisis. And make no mistake, in a crisis year for CSA, this is the biggest. The interim board will not withdraw.
“We begin by saying that our understanding of the position is very different from what is said in the letter which is the understanding of the Council of Members,” Yacoob said in a statement.
“In fact, we can say from the outset that the ‘reasons’ communicated to us appear to be selfish, opportunistic, misleading and, if we can say it, very shortsighted in the interests of cricket in South Africa. he’s busy.
“Technical aspects aside, the minister publicly ordered us to serve as an independent interim board to resolve the well-ventilated difficulties that CSA faces over the years. And, for the next three months, try to secure an Annual General Meeting before the end of that time so that an independent and intact board runs CSA with integrity.
“We understood that there was an agreement between the Minister and the Council of Members on exactly who was to be appointed and the Council of Members agreed to formalize the appointment so that the interim independent board would have the necessary authority and power to clean up cricket. South Africa.
“The Council of Members, acting mainly through its acting president [Rihan Richards] has adopted the strategy of pretending to cooperate in the process, but ensured that everything possible was done to hinder our work.
“It is for this reason and only for this reason that the interim board has not been appointed. The reasons given are unfounded and do not begin to come under scrutiny. These alleged reasons have been carefully crafted. ”
The Council of Members believes the interim board is accountable to it, something Yacoob disputes. There was also discontent on the part of the CSA executive, which carries out the day-to-day running of the organization, because the interim board was directing operations. It’s another complaint that Yacoob dismissed.
“Each of these entities has its own powers and responsibilities in terms of the relevant enabling provisions,” Yacoob said.
“It occurs to us that the real reason is to prevent us from doing our job independently and outside the control of the Council of Members. We refuse to submit to any controls and sacrifice our independence in the performance of our duties and in the interests of cricket.
“The Council of Members must also remember that the executive is accountable to the board if the board has been appointed and not the other way around.
“We assumed that the Council of Members would act with honor and confirm our appointment. Therefore, we acted as a board of directors and gave instructions to the executive.
“The executive resisted this because they were too used to doing what they wanted without any responsibility. They apparently complained and the Council of Members was somehow morally wrongly persuaded to accept their clubs in the reply letter, in support of the executive without a justifiable reason.
“We understand that it has made it difficult for us (as it clearly intended to do) the fulfillment of our public mandate that we had accepted and to which we remain committed.
“We will continue to act in the public interest to carry out our mandate. We reject any instruction from you as superfluous and will approach the media at our discretion in the public interest and in the interests of SA Cricket as opposed to the limited interest of any executive member or any other entity. ”
Now it’s your turn, Minister Mthethwa. DM
