CRICKET CRISIS
Transformation debate runs deep in Gauteng cricket
The findings and recommendations of the Langa commission of inquiry into the affairs of Gauteng cricket are “as valid as they were when they were first published as they are today”, says Dr Willie Basson.
The veteran sport administrator and scientist was one of the commissioners of the Langa Commission and also served as Cricket SA (CSA) acting president for a year during the governing body’s restructuring process almost a decade ago.
“From a transformation aspect, it would appear to me that the Gauteng cricket board is a very unstable entity,” Basson said in a wide-ranging interview on transformation in cricket in SA.
“Gauteng problems with respect to transformation are quite unique in a sense that the old white clubs were very reluctant to relinquish control from the Gauteng board.
“We should not even be having this discussion in 2020. Transformation and change should not be an issue to the extent that it appears to be in Gauteng cricket.”
Basson was reacting to the CSA-commissioned Ngoepe report, which found that transformation in Gauteng cricket has not been “substantially achieved”.
Judge Ngoepe upheld the Langa findings and recommendations of 2010 when tabling his 60-page report to the CSA board in December 2019.
Central Gauteng Lions (CGL) made history last week when the provincial board became the second in South African cricket history to elect a female president.
Anne Villas took over control but her ascendance to authority has not eliminated the problems besetting the provincial board, notorious for its racial divisions.
The election of the new CGL board, which Vilas chairs, was not in line with either the Langa or Ngoepe recommendations.
CSA said it has noted the “outcome(s)” of the Gauteng elections of May 9.
CSA president and acting CEO Dr Jacques Faul is yet to be quoted endorsing the composition of the Gauteng board, in a clear indication the new CGL leadership could face hurdles.
The internal squabbles within the CGL have a long history with the previously advantaged (white) clubs and previously disadvantaged (black) clubs at loggerheads.
Central to the squabbling is the racial composition of the board.
Some clubs believe that transformation has been achieved and that the Langa Report has served its purpose and should no longer apply.
Others disagree.
It was as a result of these fundamental disagreements that CSA mandated Ngoepe to institute an inquiry.
During the hearings, the Wanderers Cricket Club, Heidelberg Cricket Club and Calypso Old Maristonians Cricket submitted that the Langa report has run its course and should be set aside.
The clubs, all from previously advantaged backgrounds, said there should be no racial interest groups at the CGL and that non-independent board members should be subject to election in a democratic vote.
The clubs argued that the Langa report divided clubs into racial silos and perpetuated the divisions.
Ngoepe cited a lack of facilities in the townships as a major hurdle to transforming the game.
Newly elected CGL non-independent board member Mark Patterson belongs to a group that is convinced Gauteng cricket has transformed and that the Langa report should be set aside.
On behalf of previously advantaged clubs during the Ngoepe hearings, Patterson pointed to the fact Gauteng cricket clubs, even the senior team, the Lions, can field players of colour at any given time more than any other franchise in the country.
Patterson said some of the previously advantaged clubs have several black players, and at some clubs these were in the majority.
“If the objective has not been fully achieved, it has, at the very least, been substantially achieved,” said Patterson.
“Some PAC clubs are almost 100% non-white in their membership base. PAC clubs are where true transformation is occurring, institutions of excellence that have created environments that don’t see colour and get on with providing quality of opportunity for players of colour.”
But Basson pushed back and slammed those who use fielding players of colour and having black coaches as a barometer for transforming.
“The fact that you have got some black players in the Lions team does not take away the fact that those white clubs are still not transformed. You can’t hide behind that,” said Basson.
“The fact that the Lions provincial team is reasonably transformed is no excuse for clubs not to be transformed. No excuse.
“The whole of Soweto has been isolated and not part of the cricket set-up for a very long time.
“After more than 30 years we still have the same debate after a very good research project found that the Langa Report, despite its 10 years of existence, is still exactly valid today as it was when it was first published,” Basson said.
“It appears that there are elements of resistance within cricket in Gauteng. One must find out what is the cause of that,” said Basson.
The Diepsloot Cricket Club weighed in and said “club cricket in the township is almost nonexistent as the grounds are not suitable and investment is required, which CGL do not have”. The Soweto Cricket Club lamented the disparities when it comes to resources and the provision of facilities.
“CGL will be fully transformed when we have in Gauteng 64 townships having cricket clubs, not only 10 clubs as what we have currently.”
Asked for a plan of action to ensure that CGL complies with the Ngoepe recommendations, the governing body said: “We will engage with the CGL to discuss a way forward and to understand why the CGL did not follow the recommendations of the report. These engagements will take place before the end of June 2020.”