Mthombothi attack on CSA was unfounded, unfair and insulting

Last week, Barney Mthombothi launched a remarkable attack on Cricket SA (CSA) in the pages of this newspaper. He accused CSA of engaging in a “political hatchet job” in its “harassment” of Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith.

The attack is unfounded and unfair, and laden with gratuitous insults. Mthombothi conveniently ignores the facts:

• CSA initiated the social justice and nationbuilding (SJN) process to investigate allegations of racism and discrimination in cricket. It appointed an independent ombudsman to do so — advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza SC.

• The report made a series of findings on cricket in SA. CSA will shortly announce a programme of action to deal with them, in line with the new board’s strategy of inclusivity, access and excellence. Mthombothi is reminded that this new board only assumed office in June 2021.

• Ntsebeza heard extensive evidence and received affidavits from Boucher and Smith, who elected not to testify.

• His report made various “tentative findings” of racism against Boucher, Smith and others, but stressed that he was unable to finally determine the issues and recommended a further formal process to do so.

• The CSA board followed these recommendations to the letter. It decided to institute formal inquiries into CSA employees, suppliers or contractors who are implicated by the SJN report.

• CSA appointed an independent advocate, Terry Motau SC, as the chair of Boucher’s disciplinary hearing. Details of the process regarding Smith have yet to be announced, yet Mthombothi ventures to speculate on what those charges may be, purely to suit his conspiracy theory.

Precisely how these steps amount to a “political hatchet job” or “harassment” is not clear. CSA was faced with very serious — albeit tentative — findings by an independent senior counsel against two of its senior figures.

Mthombothi concedes that “racism is a serious offence” but then proceeds to suggest that CSA should have ignored the findings. He blames the victims for not coming forward sooner — exposing his ignorance of the testimony of many who appeared before Ntsebeza who explained that this was their first opportunity to tell their stories.

Ironically, Mthombothi’s approach of ignoring the ombudsman’s report would not even have served the interests of Boucher and Smith — they would have been left with a cloud over their reputations, unable to properly contest the tentative findings. More important, such an approach would not have served the best interests of cricket, which would have been dogged by these findings and uncertainty over their status for years to come.

Instead, CSA is doing precisely what fairness, the law, the constitution and common sense require. It is creating independent processes whereby Boucher and Smith will have every opportunity, with the assistance of lawyers, to state their defence, contest the tentative findings and seek to clear their names. If they succeed, they will be vindicated.

If they fail, they will be subject to adverse findings and appropriate sanctions. Critically, it will be for the freshly appointed independent and well-respected senior counsel to listen to the evidence and determine whether they are guilty of wrongdoing and, if so, the appropriate sanction to be imposed.

Mthombothi shares his delight at the Proteas’ superb performances against India in the recent Test series and ODI series.

No-one shares Mthombothi’s delight as much as CSA. It was a truly wonderful display of all that South African cricket has to offer for the future.

But stellar performances do not erase, eclipse or avoid the need to deal with the allegations of racism and discrimination. What is needed — for the sake of all parties — is finality. The only realistic way to achieve that is the sort of processes that CSA has put in place.

Mthombothi also complains about timing. The decision to embark on these processes in respect of Boucher and Smith was publicly announced on December 20 2021 — 10 days after the board received the ombudsman’s report.

Does Mthombothi suggest it would have been better to wait until midway through the Indian tour to make this announcement? Or after the Indian tour, on the eve of the New Zealand tour?

The truth is there is never a right time to make such an announcement in the midst of the packed cricket calendar, so the board did what was right — it received the report, sought legal advice, considered it thoroughly and promptly made its announcement.

Regrettably, many commentators on all sides have rushed to judgment. Some have condemned Boucher and Smith despite the fact that the processes are ongoing. Others have condemned CSA for having the temerity to proceed with the processes at all.

Neither response is sustainable. The reality is that racism and discrimination continue to afflict all aspects of our society, including the sporting arena.

The only way to deal with these issues is to treat them with the utmost seriousness — but also ensure fairness and due process along the way.

Rather than being castigated, CSA should be applauded for having had the courage to investigate racism and discrimination in the sport and to treat the findings in the manner that it has.