Members’ council of CSA scramble
The old saying that diamonds are created under pressure certainly did not apply to the Cricket South Africa members’ council yesterday as they struggled to come up with a unified response to Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s ultimatum that they give cause by 5pm today as to why he should not take action against them.
The members’ council refused to ratify the interim board’s proposed amendments to the CSA constitution at the weekend and ensured their snubbing of Mthethwa was made even greater by enlisting the help of Sascoc, which Mthethwa had specifically told not to interfere, in order to block the governance changes.
Mthethwa then summoned Sascoc president Barry Hendricks and members’ council acting president Rihan Richards to a meeting yesterday, where a deadline of 5pm on Tuesday was given to stave off the probable suspension of CSA as a recognised body by government, which would result in the Proteas being unable to compete internationally.
The five or six provincial presidents who are in favour of a more independent board spent yesterday trying to draft a statement that would encapsulate their position but, by 6pm, nothing was forthcoming.
This is indicative of a deeply divided members’ council, with a half-dozen of them in favour of having more independent directors, and another half-dozen eager to safeguard their own positions of power by having a minority of independent directors.
Other sticking points for the members’ council are who will make up the selection committee to propose the new directors for the new board and who will represent CSA at the International Cricket Council – the board chair or the members’ council president?
While the members’ council was scrambling around yesterday, the interim board is busy finalising its report for the sports minister and has also had its tenure extended until 14 May.
This is to ensure that there is no leadership vacuum and there is still some support for CSA’s executive staff.
There are also the various disciplinary hearings against CSA employees that need to be completed.
Half-dozen in favour of more independent directors and another half-dozen eager to safeguard their own positions of power by having a minority of independent directors.