Govender just what Cricket SA needs

CRICKET South Africa (CSA) has endured a rough couple of years. In fact, that’s a mild assessment of the terrible state the nation’s cricket organisation finds itself in.

Chief executive Thabang Moroe is serving a suspension, and faces eight charges of misconduct, while senior former members of staff Naasei Appiah and Clive Eksteen are both contesting their recent dismissals in court.

Furthermore, in the Covid-19 climate, lucrative sponsorships and television rights are increasingly difficult to secure.

And then, of course, former black players and coaches have also stood up strongly in unison and given powerful and disturbing details about racism in the game since unity.

A CSA delegation was originally meant to appear in Parliament today to explain why the results of a forensic audit relating to Moroe’s suspension have not been made public and how they were going to deal with the allegations of racism.

That appearance has been postponed, but this is the arena new acting chief executive Kugandrie Govender has entered.

It is such a pity because CSA deserves a lot of credit for appointing Govender as the first woman to head the organisation.

Instead of us heralding her appointment as a victory for transformation in every sense, Govender will immediately have to try to rectify all the mistakes her male colleagues have made over the past 18 months.

She will bring the experience of working in media sales and sponsorship for more than a decade to the table, which will stand her in good stead in mending relationships.

Govender does not come with the baggage of her predecessors and she is certain to work tirelessly to bring together the divided fractions in CSA.

She is extremely passionate about her creation of “Black Day” – a match between the Proteas’ and Australian Women’s teams to highlight genderbased violence. That has been postponed due to Covid-19, but let’s hope she can restart the project soon.

CSA should do everything in power to support Govender.

From our side, we congratulate her warmly on her appointment and wish her everything of the best.

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