EP Cricket staff left in the lurch
Financial problems at St George’s
TO offset a nett operating deficit in excess of R3-million, the EP Cricket board embarked on a restructuring process that would, inevitably, lead to a reduction in staff. Rajan Moodaley was the consultant appointed to drive this process.
All staff were offered voluntary severance packages that included three weeks’ salary for every year of completed service. With one exception, all the senior staff applied for these packages, and they had these approved in an unsigned and undated letter delivered to affected staff on September 23.
There was, however, one important caveat in that staff would only be paid out when EP Cricket has the money to do so. Thus acting EP Cricket president Malcolm Figg and his associates have offered packages with no guarantee of the finance required to execute these offers nor had they done due diligence to ensure they did not lose all the expertise and management in one fell swoop.
Figg was on holiday in Cape Town at the time so staff were unable to consult with him to determine the important financial details of their packages.
In a move that flouts every principle of employment law and human resources practice, 22 posts were advertised internally before affected staff had even signed off on their severance agreements. No revised organogram has ever been shown to the staff, but the advertised posts reflect a whole new tier of senior management, additional positions and amalgamated positions – none of which had been offered as an alternative option to those staff who had applied for severance packages.
Figg has gone on record as saying that the objective of the restructuring process was to save costs (“EP Cricket in staffing controversy”, September 13). The increased number of posts at senior level, plus the absence of a meaningful reduction in staff numbers, will obviously make no dent in the salary bill.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the restructuring process has nothing to do with costs but is merely a euphemism for getting rid of staff that do not fit the board’s preferred profile.
If the board is sincere about cutting costs it should look to its own expenditure in the first instance.
Acting chief executive Tony Mle has resigned, although this development has not been formally conveyed to the staff.
Individual board members have, off the record, admitted that the restructuring process is flawed and that it has been mismanaged. Moodaley has, however, already been paid for his efforts so why should he be bothered.
Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat has ignored the pleas of the staff to have CSA intervene. Figg communicates only via the acting chief executive, who has resigned.
The historic St George’s ground now provides the backdrop not for the gentleman’s game of cricket, but for power play and politics similar to that which brought EP Cricket to its knees in 2002. What a sad day for the loyal staff and for cricket lovers in this province.
Disenchanted, Port Elizabeth