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Former Constitutional Court Judge Zak Yacoob at Wits University on March 6, 2013.
(Gallo / The Times / Bad Adviser images)
- The suspension of CSA company secretary Welsh Gwaza has caused massive tension within the company’s interim board, as well as with the council of members.
- Gwaza received a suspension letter on November 30, following charges related to the Fundudzi report.
- Former cricketer Omphile Ramela faces expulsion from the board, while former Easterns president Xolani Peter Vonya has been suspended.
The matter relating to the suspended secretary of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) company Welsh Gwaza It has caused massive tension within the company’s interim board.
Chairman of the interim board Judge Zak Yacoob It said Thursday that some of its members questioned the circumstances surrounding Gwaza’s suspension, but not the material charges themselves.
Gwaza received a suspension letter on November 30, following charges related to the findings of the Fundudzi Forensic Services report.
READ | Who is the mystery man Welsh Gwaza?
Yacoob detailed the difficulty of behind-the-scenes discussions within the interim board, as well as his interaction with the council of members on the Gwaza issue.
“Gwaza’s suspension was a very difficult topic because we discussed it for the first time on Saturday 28th November and I came to the conclusion that the indictment had to be drawn up and notified, and the suspension had to start, ”said Yacoob.
“The conversation was long and varied, with the result that some members of the board, a minority, came to the perhaps justifiable conclusion that we had not made that decision.
“When the charge sheet was delivered on Monday (November 30), they raised the problem that, as far as they were concerned, the charge sheet had not been delivered.”
At Thursday’s press conference, Yacoob revealed that another interim board member Omphile Ramela faced expulsion and Xolani Peter Vonya he was suspended from the activities of the board.
Former cricketer Ramela resigned from the presidency of the South African Cricketers Association to take over as director of the CSA.
Vonya was president of the Eastern Cricket Union (Easterns) before joining the board.
Yacoob described Ramela as “obstructive” and “refused to accept the decisions of the majority.”
The president’s comments implied that Ramela (and by association Vonya) were the voices of dissent against the proceedings that led to Gwaza’s suspension.
“What was interesting is that the questions from some of the dissidents, about the delivery of the charge sheet, were echoed by the questions that Gwaza himself asked in regards to the media,” Yacoob said.
“Therefore, we had to be aware of the fact that some members of the council (interim board) were possibly in contact with Mr. Gwaza and taking clubs on his behalf.
“We made a decision that, even if the majority made a mistake in deciding to deliver the charge sheet on Monday, we said to reaffirm it.
“There was no problem writing the charge sheet. The only debate between the minority and the majority was when to serve it.”
Yacoob said he suspected that there were some acting members of the board who had “taken clubs” on Gwaza’s behalf.
“I must say, personally, that I suspect that people were taking the clubs on behalf of Mr. Gwaza,” Yacoob said.
“I can’t say it’s true, but I think it’s my job to tell you what my reasonable suspicion is. I’m not determining a case as a judge here; I’m acting as the chairman of a board that needs to make tough and tough decisions – steps to fix things.
“If I meditated on everything and it took me a month or so to decide a case, which we always do in difficult decisions, nothing would happen.
“There is a distinction between my role as a judge and my role here.”
READ MORE | CSA interim board seeks to remove Ramela
Yacoob also said there was vigorous debate between the interim board and the council of members regarding Gwaza’s suspension at a meeting Wednesday night.
“We raised the issue of Mr. Gwaza’s suspension with the council of members yesterday (Wednesday),” Yacoob said.
“And there was, at first, a lot of animosity with many members of the provincial council (council of members) making precisely the same points, which was quite interesting because they had not been to our meeting.
“They were taking the same points of procedural justice and other things, which worried me a lot because [they made it seem] as if they understand procedural fairness issues and such measures much better than we do.
“And yet we have two reasonably good attorneys (Yacoob and Judith February) on our panel and we are not going to act inappropriately and badly.”
Gwaza’s disciplinary hearing begins Monday, December 14.
“The investigation will take place on Monday and Tuesday and there will be an independent person in charge of the investigation,” Yacoob added.
