CSA must publicly declare u19 cricket tournament safe for all teams and reinstate SA Captain, David Teeger

16 January 2024

Today, the DA issued Cricket South Africa (CSA) with a letter of demand to reinstate David Teeger as Captain of South Africa’s Under-19 Cricket Team. CSA announced Teeger’s removal last week, following alleged security concerns.

Should CSA refuse to reinstate Teeger as captain, before close of business 19 January 2024, the DA will submit an official complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission.

The removal of Teeger as captain has caused international condemnation, with Senators from the Australian Parliament now writing to Cricket Australia over CSA’s apparent fear of danger to players, teams and spectators.

Widely circulated media reports show that CSA’s decision was nothing more than a fabrication to try and justify the political pressure from the ANC government. This attempt to deceive the South African public is not only acting in bad faith but has caused an international scandal.

The scandal has now resulted in countries such as Australia questioning whether South Africa is even safe to host the tournament and whether the International Cricket bodies were briefed by South Africa on these supposed security threats.

The DA calls on CSA to publicly declare that there are no such security risks, and that the tournament is safe. If the tournament is indeed safe from security threats, because of an under 19 player’s religious beliefs, CSA must issue an unreserved apology to South Africa as well as David Teeger and reinstate him immediately as captain before the commencement of the tournament.

Issued by Veronica van Dyk, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture, 16 January 2024