“We refer to our various engagements with you relating to your request for SASCOC to intervene in the affairs of CSA.” - SASCOC to Nathi Mthethwa. No interference? Really?
TELFORD VICE | Cape Town
DENIALS of interference in South African cricket have been exposed as false. A letter to the country’s minister of sport from the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) makes plain that government asked it to “intervene in the affairs” of CSA. And that those attempts have failed, kicking cricket’s can of worms back to the ministry.
That could prompt measures against South Africa — including the suspension of its teams from international competition — by the ICC, which has rules against meddling. And not only by governments. The global body’s constitution says a member is obliged to “manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government (or other public or quasi-public body) interference in its governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in its cricket playing country (including in operational matters, in the selection and management of teams, and in the appointment of coaches or support personnel)”.
On the face of it, then, SASCOC’s actions alone should be enough to stir the ICC into action. But whether South Africa will be suspended depends on how much the presence of the country’s teams in the world arena means to the game. The merits of the case are likely a secondary consideration, not least because India, England and Australia need mid-table opposition like South Africa.
The letter, which Cricbuzz has seen, is dated September 25, signed by Ravi Govender, SASCOC’s acting chief executive, and addressed to Nathi Mthethwa, South Africa’s minister of sport. “We refer to our various engagements with you relating to your request for SASCOC to intervene in the affairs of CSA in order to regularise its administration of the sport in this country,” Govender writes.
That follows two weeks of back and forth in the wake of SASCOC, in another letter dated September 10, telling CSA its board and key staff members were “directed to step aside” and that a SASCOC-appointed task team would investigate cricket’s many problems.
One of a set of resolutions motivating that decision and contained in a separate SASCOC document, dated September 8, talks of “the directive by the minister of sport and recreation for SASCOC to intervene into the affairs of CSA”.
But, in a letter to the ICC dated September 13, Aleck Skhosana, SASCOC’s then acting president, wrote: “At no stage does or did SASCOC act under the direction or control of the minister of sport in the country, or the government of the republic of South Africa. Accordingly, SASCOC rejects any allegation or insinuation that the SASCOC intervention constitutes government interference.” Skhosana issued another denial of interference during an online press conference on September 17.
The latest letter makes a mockery of his claims. And whether the spark for SASCOC’s actions was a “directive” or a “request” from Mthethwa is moot: both could be construed as interference, and by SASCOC as well as government.
Central to the impasse between SASCOC — which has the power to suspend national federations — and CSA is access to the report of a forensic investigation commissioned by CSA’s highest authority, the members council. The findings have cost Thabang Moroe his job as CSA’s chief executive and are thought to implicate others in actionable offences.
“Our demand for the forensic report has been met with serious resistance by the administrators of CSA who have made it abundantly clear that the report will not be released unconditionally and will only be released provided our board members sign confidentiality agreements which will preclude any discussions thereon and the inability on our part to obtain advice and recommendations in respect of the aforementioned report,” Govender writes in the September 25 letter. “More recent media reports indicate that [CSA] is bent on ‘self-correcting’ whilst its current board members and executive management, who must have been implicated in the forensic report, remain in office and refuse to step aside pending finalisation of the investigations to be carried out by the independent task team.
“It has become abundantly clear that CSA, which has resources at its disposal, will not readily cooperate with SASCOC and it is inevitable that a dispute will be declared between SASCOC and CSA which will result in protracted and expensive litigation, which resources SASCOC simply does not possess to pursue legal proceedings against CSA.
“In light of the lack of resources on our part, SASCOC unfortunately has to refer this matter back to you, honourable minister, to enable you to take whatever action in your powers you deem necessary to restore the dignity of the game of cricket in this country. However, should you be prepared to make resources available to SASCOC for us to enforce corrective measures in the administration of CSA, we will gladly take all appropriate steps to intervene in its affairs and utilise all mechanisms at our disposal in order to restore CSA to its former glory.
“In the absence of providing us with the resources that will be required as referred to above, we wish you well with your efforts in dealing with very serious issues plaguing CSA.”
To paraphrase, show us the money, Mthethwa, or you can deal with this mess yourself. Good luck.
Seldom can cricket anywhere have found itself at the mercy of entities as inept as CSA, SASCOC and South Africa’s government. All have been exposed as wanting in many areas, not least ethically. For cricketminded South Africans, who no longer have the now postponed Mzansi Super League to look forward to and don’t know when next they might see the national teams play again, or watch any cricket first-hand — this will feel like rock bottom. Until the bottom slips still further down.
First published by Cricbuzz.
One wonders if this so called NDA has any standing in our constitution
OR
are we cricket public being taken for a ride????
Someone must must produce the document or IF NOT ITS EXISTENCE IS NON EXISTENT