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Cricket South Africa’s interim board is chaired by Judge Zak Yacoob. (Photo: Netwerk24) Photo: Judge Zak Jacoob (Netwerk24)
Cricket South Africa moved away from the brink of disaster on Monday when the ill-fated Council of Members finally voted to appoint a nine-person interim board.
After 72 hours packed with at least five tense meetings, the Cricket South Africa Council of Members (CSA), its highest decision-making authority, was stumped and finally made sense.
In a humiliating but necessary turn, the Council of Members voted Monday to ratify the appointment of the nine-person interim board established by Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa on October 30.
“The vote of the Council of Members on the resolution to accept and proceed with the appointment of the nine interim members of the board was completed and finalized. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of accepting the nine board members. The Council of Members will communicate with the minister to advise him accordingly, ”said Acting Chairman of the Board, Zak Yacoob.
After three days of risky politics between the Council of Members on the one hand and Mthethwa and the interim board on the other, it was the CSA delegation that blinked first. The result is that Yacoob and his board have much more power than a week ago.
The misguided strategy of the Council of Members had failed and Yacoob, like it or not, is the most powerful person in South African cricket at the moment, and that is a positive development.
Mthethwa appointed the interim board for a period of three months to resolve an organization that is dysfunctional and paralyzed at almost every level after years of mismanagement. It was, in the language of modern South Africa, captured by some individuals for personal gain.
An independent forensic investigation commissioned by the previous board has left many in the organization nervous. Known as the Fundudzi report, it covered 24 topics / areas of concern.
The investigation aimed to establish whether the CSA board adhered to effective principles of corporate governance. It was a question of determining whether “there were effective internal controls; whether key subcommittees reasonably relied on management information and applied reasonable levels of professional skepticism to such information before recommending such proposals for board approval. “
The new board, with six independents on it, was tasked with using the Fundudzi report as a guide when it set out to stop the rot at CSA. But less than two weeks after his job, the nervous Council of Members, fueled by disgruntled executive employees at CSA headquarters, including company secretary Welsh Gwaza, raised concerns.
Last Thursday, the Council of Members said it would not ratify the meeting, a 180 degree turn from what was agreed with Mthethwa 12 days earlier.
Crisis meeting series
That move sparked a series of crisis rallies involving almost every facet of the game in South Africa. Risky politics could only go wrong for CSA, with Mthethwa stripping CSA of its status as the sport’s watchdog, or worse.
Last Friday, Mthethwa sent a scathing response to the measure, making it clear that he would not tolerate it. On Friday evening, the Council of Members called a hasty meeting and stood firm. Only three of the 14 provincial union presidents that make up the Membership Council opposed the decision to breach the agreement with Mthethwa.
“My suspicion is that it is due to management dissatisfaction with the interim board that they have probably complained to the Council of Members,” Yacoob said last Friday.
“There is a strong possibility that the executive had a great influence on this decision to exclude the interim board.”
On Sunday, the CSA Bowmans law firm called a meeting with some interim members of the board because their role in the saga has been critical. Bowmans, for whom Gwaza worked, appears to have been advising CSA to stand up against Mthethwa’s interference.
But the law firm has grown increasingly uncomfortable with being portrayed as facilitators to capture and walked away from Sunday’s meeting knowing its council needed to change course.
On Sunday night, the Membership Council met for the second time in 48 hours, but could not vote on the resolution because some members did not have a formal mandate from their unions.
On Monday, the Council of Members met once again, under fire from all sides. He no longer had a legal opinion to stand firm, he was also in possession of a letter signed by all of the remaining CSA sponsors to give in to the minister’s request and let the interim board continue its work.
In a final twist, it was clear that Mthethwa had another ace up his sleeve. The threat to strip him of CSA’s status as the country’s national cricket body was only a secondary appeal. His biggest threat to CSA was legal.
The minister threatened to go to court to declare the leaders incapable of running the sport, which allowed him to legally appoint an interim board to run cricket. Clearly, CSA felt it would not win that case and has relented.
ICC will not see it as a government acquisition
It is more than likely that the latest event saved England’s tour of South Africa, which could have been canceled if the stalemate continued. England arrives in the country on Tuesday for six white ball games.
He also sent a positive message to the International Cricket Council (ICC) because Yacoob, a former judge of the Constitutional Court, is of the opinion that the board is independent even though it was appointed by the sports minister. That distinction means that it is not an extension of the government, which would be a violation of the ICC membership code.
The Council of Members had initially threatened to go to the ICC, but that position is debatable as far as Yacoob is concerned.
“We as an independent board are saying that the minister will not and cannot tell us what to do,” Yacoob said. “If it is necessary for us to speak with the ICC about this, we will make it very clear that the appointment of the board by the minister, with the consent of all, does not amount to interference.
“The Council of Members said it was going to file a complaint [with the ICC]. Even if it did, the notion of ministerial interference is, in my opinion, completely unfounded, and I hope the ICC is wise enough to see it.
“The minister has given us the mandate to do a particular cleaning job. We take our work seriously. Management is not going to tell us what to do, but if they do make any suggestions, we will consider them very carefully. The Council of Members is not going to tell us what to do either. No one will dictate our actions under any circumstances, ”Yacoob said. DM
