JOHANNESBURG – Cricket South Africa’s Members Council has chosen not to abide by the recommendations set out in the Nicholson report – drawn up 10 years ago – thus setting the organisation on the path of further conflict with the government.
The Members Council – Cricket SA’s highest decision making body comprising the 14 provincial presidents – met with the government established, Interim Board of Directors on Saturday morning and rejected that board’s proposal for a new permanent Board of Directors comprising a majority of independent directors.
The Interim Board, established last October by the Minister of Sport, Art and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, after CSA’s previous administration had imploded, was mandated with establishing the means to implement the recommendations of the Nicholson Commission of Inquiry, specifically those related to the composition of the board of directors.
The Interim Board had worked with renowned corporate governance lawyer, Michael Katz, in drawing up the proposals for a new structure, which were rejected by the Members Council.
Cricket SA, which fell foul of the government over a decade ago, when its administrative structure failed in its oversight of then CEO Gerald Majola, found itself under scrutiny again two years ago, when its administrative structure failed in its oversight of CEO Thabang Moroe.
The Majola case led to the establishment of Judge Chris Nicholson’s Inquiry, while in Moroe’s case, a forensic investigation took place, which uncovered numerous incidents of maladministration.
The current Members Council has chosen to retain structure that oversaw those controversies.
“The Members’ Council advised that eight of the fourteen Members voted against the notion of an independent Board,” Cricket SA said in a statement following Saturday’s meeting.
The Interim Board has called on the Members Council to identify how each provincial president voted “in the interests of transparency and public interest.”
The Interim Board, chaired by Stavros Nicolaou, the Aspen Pharmacare Group's Senior Executive responsible for Strategic Trade Development, said it was disappointed by the outcome of Saturday’s meeting, which had followed weeks of interaction between the Interim Board and the Members Council.
Cricket SA has been under enormous pressure for the last two years with sponsors dumping the organisation, while the national players have also criticised it, stating that officials had put narrow self-interests ahead of the broader growth of the sport.
“Cricket in South Africa is a national good and in doing so, the Members’ Council has not only disappointed the Interim Board, the South African cricketing community but also the South African people at large.”
IOL Sport