Cricket SA board member quits

Shirley Zinn says the banning of journalists and the Graeme Smith story are just two issues that forced her hand

The unravelling of Cricket SA’s administration continued as independent board member Shirley Zinn resigned with immediate effect‚ citing problems with Cricket SA’s principles of corporate governance.

The unravelling of Cricket SA’s administration backbone continued at breakneck speed as independent board member Shirley Zinn resigned with immediate effect‚ citing problems with Cricket SA’s principles of corporate governance.

Zinn‚ who joined Cricket SA in 2018 and served on the human resources and remuneration subcommittee as one of five independent directors‚ said the organisation’s appalling manner in which five journalists were banned from covering Mzansi Super League matches‚ the Sunday Times story on former Proteas captain Graeme

Smith’s imminent appointment as the director of cricket, and Cricket SA CEO Thabang Moroe’s radio interview on Monday regarding the reasons for banning journalists, were some of the reasons that led to her resignation.

“There’s a lot of issues‚ some of them are being fixed‚ but one of them is the relationship with the SA Cricketers’ Association‚ the accreditation of journalists being withdrawn‚ which is something I thought was an appalling approach in terms of dealing with journalists.

“I was absolutely shocked to see that and how that was authorised from a governance perspective in terms of who decided that that was the best step to follow‚” Zinn said.

“The Graeme Smith story in the Sunday Times was completely out of line and in terms of the accreditation issue‚ I heard it in the media and no-one communicated that to me. If that happened‚ I certainly wasn’t on the list of the people who were spoken to about the matter.

“I was shocked and then I heard the Thabang radio interview on Monday morning. I can’t describe to you how worrying it was in terms of how he made that call.

“Those two issues were the straw that broke the camel’s back. They finished me off and I put pen to paper on Monday. I was totally horrified to find out that these things happened and I wasn’t going to stand by and look the other way.”

Zinn‚ a seasoned board director who is a human resources specialist‚ recently resigned as the Shoprite Group’s lead independent director after chair Christo Wiese was reelected to his position despite the majority of shareholders voting against him.

Zinn said there are many board issues that need to be rectified before the organisation can move forward.

“The board needs to be properly constituted and we’ve got too many people in acting positions. We’ve brought this issue up at various meetings and there’s one committee chair position that’s been filled‚” Zinn said. “The lead independent director position hasn’t been filled. There are too many intricacies and the lack of following proper processes.”

Cricket SA spokesperson

Thami Mthembu said he could not comment on board issues and referred queries to Cricket SA president Chris Nenzani‚ whose phone rang unanswered.

Cricket SA’s main sponsor, Standard Bank, engaged with the embattled organisation on Monday evening‚ with the bank’s group chief marketing officer, Thulani Sibeko, saying it should have been made aware of Cricket SA’s developments.

“As a major sponsor of cricket in SA‚ we believe we should have been afforded the courtesy to be kept abreast of these developments within Cricket SA‚ and not to hear about them from the media in the unfortunate manner that we did‚” Sibeko said.

THERE ARE TOO MANY INTRICACIES AND THE LACK OF FOLLOWING PROPER PROCESSES

Shirley Zinn Former CSA board member