ECU President rejected by own constituency
He received votes from only two clubs out of 11 in the group that represents township clubs.
Some members of the Black African Interest Group have approached Cricket South Africa (CSA) after Eastern Cricket Union (ECU) President Thato Moagi was ‘nicodemously’ nominated and subsequently re-elected to the union’s board in a special general meeting (SGM) at Willowmoore Park on February 28.
Moagi, president of ECU since 2019, only received two votes from the 11 clubs representing the group.
The meeting held to fill six vacant seats on the board, descended into chaos when some members questioned Moagi’s election, saying he was not their preferred candidate.
Black African Interest Group, which represents township clubs, nominated four candidates but only three met the requirements as per clause 59.2 of the Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) of the ECU constitution, which states nominees need to have served on one of the sub-committees for at least 12 months in the past three years.
This disqualified Thabang Ditshego from Etwatwa, while the other withdrew for personal reasons, leaving Thabiso Msipha as their only candidate.
This meant Moagi and Msipha stood unopposed. Leaders of the group argued Moagi did not receive support from the majority of the township clubs.
“Thembisa and Wattville nominated Thato. That is why we considered his nomination. The nomination process was extremely clear and the same for all interest groups.
“This can be seen in all nomination forms and communication to members of the council,” said ECU CEO Wesley Coulentianos, who was chairing the SGM.
Midrand Cricket Club’s Siphiwe Mgandela explained Moagi didn’t receive a nod from them because he did not present his manifesto to the group.
“We have nothing against Thato but he has not engaged to us on what he will do for us. We don’t know how his name got there,” said Mgandela.
Chairperson of Wattville CC, Ferguson Radebe said they voted for Moagi because they want continuity.
“Yes, I was part of the group meetings but as Wattville, we have our own views. We want continuity,” Radebe said.
Mgandela added Moagi, who is also a non-independent director on the Cricket South Africa (CSA) board, needed to explain why he wants to serve on both the boards of ECU and CSA adding this is a conflict of interest.
“We need someone who will represent our interests. Thato has to come and make us understand his vision for our clubs. We need to ask ourselves whether the game has been taken to the townships. Clubs there need infrastructure within their respective communities, not to travel miles to play.”
Ditshego agreed with Mgandela, saying, “Thato has failed the black Africans. He’s a CSA board member and holding two positions will not help our union achieve the bigger picture. That’s why we don’t want him anymore”.
Asked what the bigger picture is, Ditshego did not respond.
Another contentious issue in the meeting was the clause on eligibility, which the group said was ‘exclusionary’, adding they needed it set aside because it was ‘prejudiced against their desired candidates to be elected’.
They accused Coulentianos of not addressing issues raised in a members council meeting on January 17, and failing to do due diligence in the vetting process.
“I followed the MOI when doing the process. I don’t have the power to deviate from the MOI. I’m not sure why they are attacking me. They are upset that one of their nominees was disqualified as per the MOI. Their other candidate (Msipha) made it to the board as per the exact process,” Coulentianos said.
We have sent communication for comment from CSA and are awaiting their reply.
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