Saca unhappy with CSA
CRICKET South Africa (CSA) is facing ever increasing criticism over the length of time it is taking to resolve disciplinary issues around its suspended chief executive Thabang Moroe, with the players’ association adding its voice yesterday.
The SA Cricketers’ Association (Saca) said “there appears to be a distinct lack of will” by CSA’S Board of Directors to deal with the Moroe issue, specifically a disciplinary hearing regarding his conduct. There is currently an independent forensic audit taking place, which is being run by Funduzi Forensic Services.
Moroe was suspended on full pay in the first week of December last year and the terms of reference for that audit were finalised at the end of January with the team to conduct the audit named a few weeks later.
They were expected to finish the audit at the end of last month, with the final report being made available to the public. That has not happened, and as yet no date has been set for when the audit will be completed.
However, Saca yesterday made the point that the forensic audit should have no bearing on disciplinary matters as they relate to Moroe, and that he should have been subject to an inquiry independent of the audit which should have been overseen by the board.
“It appears as if the Covid-19 pandemic is being used as a convenient excuse for the delay, in spite of the fact that CSA is operationally fully functional at the moment,” said Saca chief executive Andrew Breetzke.
“There appears to be a distinct lack of will at Board level to deal with this matter, despite the dire need for finality on this material issue for all stakeholders in cricket. It is interesting to note that there were no such delays in dealing with the numerous other CSA disciplinary matters.”
Those disciplinary matters include inquiries involving Corrie van Zyl – who is back at work at CSA – Clive Eksteen, Ziyanda Nkuta and Nassei Appiah.
“CSA will point to the forensic audit that has not yet been completed, despite the fact that the crises that have enveloped CSA over the past 18 months are evidence of a prima facie case against Moroe,” said Breetzke. “It is hard to imagine another professional environment where such vacillation on a matter of such importance would be tolerated by a board of directors.”
The board is still headed by president Chris Nenzani, with deputy Beresford Williams also still in place, despite them overseeing a chaotic period in SA cricket.
“CSA desperately needs to regain the confidence of the players, public, broadcasters and sponsors, particularly with respect to matters of governance – its failure to bring this matter to a conclusion undermines its efforts in this regard,” said Saca president Omphile Ramela.
Saca’s criticism continues to indicate its lack of trust in Nenzani, Williams and other non-independent directors. Relations between Saca and CSA have improved recently with the two organisations working closely in relation to the Covid-19 crisis.
In a statement release last night, CSA said it had “noted the concerns of our stakeholders regarding the delays in the conclusion of all the disciplinary matters.
“This situation is regrettable,” the statement continued, “and CSA would like to assure all stakeholders of our uppermost intention to ensure absolute transparency on the related forensic outcomes once all of the related processes have been concluded.
“Further to this, CSA would like to make it clear that the forensic auditors are currently finalising the forensic report and once the auditors have tabled the report directly to the Board, CSA commits to sharing the findings of the report, in line with Board approval.”