Address by the Minister of Sport, Arts & Culture, Hon EN Mthethwa, at the Press Briefing on Ministerial Interventions at Cricket SA
30 October 2020
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you may know, following continued public criticism on how Cricket SA was conducting its affairs, particularly in the areas of leadership, governance, transformation, selection of teams, etc from various interest groups within and outside cricket, I was urged to step in and assist Cricket SA resolve their problems.
Without reinventing the past, it is common knowledge that I made several attempts in meetings with their Board and Members Council, to encourage Cricket SA to pre-empt any action on my part by demonstrating that they had the capacity, will and desire to self-correct. My efforts included an appeal to SASCOC, as the mother body of all national federations in the country, to try and assist Cricket SA to find solutions to the problems they were encountering.
Whilst all this was happening, CSA’s reputation continued to suffer, with increasing calls for the Board to step down. On my part, I felt that i should exercise all the patience I could muster. I was even criticized that I was not going to do anything to confront the deteriorating situation at cricket. However, instead of improving, the situation was getting worse and it dawned on me that no matter how long I delayed, the prospects of the sport to self-correct, were dim.
When I finally decided it was time to intervene, I considered it advisable to inform the ICC of my intended intervention. I also thought I should give the CSA another opportunity to present me with representations as to why I should not intervene.
In the intervening period, I heard that the Board had resigned and CSA subsequently managed to present me with constructive proposals, to which I applied my mind and agreed to engage with them on a collaborative path that would see the replacement of the Board which had resigned with an Interim Board comprising 9 members nominated by ourselves, the Members Council and the SA Cricketers Association.
The Interim Board, reporting to the Members Council, would hit the ground running to expeditiously deal with current governance systems, structures and procedures, including a proper consideration of the Nicholson recommendations; consider the Fundudzi report, its implications and consequences for CSA and to take any actions recommended in the report itself or actions that the interim Board deems appropriate; review all Board decisions taken since 2019 and to report on those decisions that require the attention of the Members Council and to generally do whatever is necessary and appropriate in order to restore the integrity and reputation of CSA.
The Interim Board is expected to be in place for an initial period of up to 3 months, which may be extended based on progress achieved.
In terms of structure of the Interim Board, I was guided by the Nicholson recommendations in respect of a modest Board of 9 members, selected on the basis of expertise and integrity, the majority of which will be independent directors, who enjoy about 2/3 support of affiliates.
The team comprises a mix of men and women with a range of skills in the areas of law, governance, business, and international relations, amongst others. The Board also includes nominees received from members of the community, the Members Council and SA Cricket Association.
It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce the following names:-
- Judge Zak Yacoob (Chairperson)
- Mr Omphile Ramela
- Ms Judith February
- Professor Andre Odendaal
- Ms Nkeko Caroline Mampuru
- Dr Stavros Nicolaou
- Ms Andile Dawn Mbatha
- Mr Haroon Lorgat
- Mr Peter Xolani Vonya
Please join me in wishing the team well on their mission to restore the good name of cricket in this country.
Statement issued by Masechaba Khumalo, Sport and Recreation South Africa, 30 October 2020
