Stressed CSA chief says sorry
CRICKET SA (CSA) chief executive Thabang Moroe issued a mea culpa yesterday as his organisation was further damaged by the resignation of Shirley Zinn, one of the five independent directors on its board.
CSA’s board of directors will hold an emergency meeting on Saturday where “important decisions will be made”, it said.
Moroe apologised to five members of the media who had their accreditation revoked at the weekend, calling it an “error in judgement” and to the CSA’s sponsors who were made to look as if they continued to support the organisation despite last weekend’s controversy. “It is understandable that my job as CEO is always under the
microscope,” he said. “It’s not just for ethical reasons but for my love of cricket that I adhere to due process, especially during uncomfortable moments.”
While Moroe highlighted “due process”, Zinn resigned, citing the failure to adhere to good corporate governance standards.
The revoking of accreditation of five journalists last weekend, blocking them from entering stadiums, upset Zinn, who served as an independent director at Sanlam, further accelerating her exit from the CSA.
“The last two days really broke my back, it was a step too far,” Zinn said of the decision by CSA’s senior administration to prevent the five journalists from covering matches. The story about Graeme Smith in the Sunday Times was the end for me,” she added.
The paper had reported that Smith was set to be announced as director of cricket but on Monday he said this was not the case.
Independent Media understands that Graeme Smith, who announced he was withdrawing from the process to appoint the new director two weeks ago, had been asked by CSA to reconsider.
It’s believed he had a meeting with CSA president Chris Nenzani, Zinn and Moroe in Cape Town last week, where it’s understood he reiterated the concerns he had about CSA which still had to be addressed.
Also yesterday, Standard Bank, title sponsor of the Proteas, said it had expressed its “displeasure at the unsatisfactory manner in which the CSA had engaged some of its stakeholders”.
The bank met CSA officials – including Moroe – on Monday evening about “governance and conduct challenges that have tarnished the image of cricket in South Africa”.