Cricket SA leaders have become masters of spin

Spin is a word often used both in cricketing and PR contexts, but in terms of the sport, amongst the most important properties of a spinner are guile and deception. Cricket South Africa’s board and executive have mastered these arts.

Fortunately, the cracks are starting to show in the great edifice of #CricketCapture, thanks to some extra heat applied by Sascoc, the indefatigable work of certain journalists and the valuable input of stakeholders whose love for the game and desire to serve it far outweighs personal considerations.

The key, as Sascoc have correctly insisted, is the Fundudzi forensic report, which was used to fire former CEO Thabang Moroe and then hastily hidden away from public view.

Moroe certainly did the game great harm by alienating so many vital stakeholders, but for justice to be seen to be served, the actual misdemeanours that led to his axing need to be made known.

The CSA Board consistently ignore the fact that they are a non-profit company operating in the public interest, so they have to be transparent. Their idea of transparency was revealed in their absurd statement after their unsuccessful meeting with Sascoc on Thursday night that their decision to restrict access to the report “has been made in the interests of transparency”.

Classic double speak like their constant and incorrect use of “unanimous” when it comes to Members Council decisions.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Fundudzi Report implicates the board and senior executives in misgovernance.

Those of us who covered Moroe’s fall from grace know full well that he did not act without the firm support of others.

And where these miscreants have shown particular guile and deception is in allowing the Members Council to commission the forensic investigation and allowing them to believe it was their property.

But the Board then changed the terms of reference of the inquest and, once the report eventually came out, they put it under lock-and-key at the offices of their lawyers, Bowman Gilfillan.

Together, the CSA Board, senior executives and their lawyers have used scare tactics – the threat of litigation or enormous legal costs – to convince the Members Council that the forensic report should not be made public. Instead the provincial presidents were only allowed to see a summary of the report, explained to them by the CSA Board’s own legal representatives from Bowman Gilfillan.

But it has now emerged that the summary was written by Bowman Gilfillan themselves, and not by Fundudzi, the independent investigators tasked with the audit.

Let us be clear on one thing. Without wanting to slander the legal profession, lawyers only act in the interests of whoever is paying them; moral and ethical questions don’t really come into it, which is why even the most vile child-killer will have a legal representative doing their best to get them off.
And who pays for Bowman Gilfillan? It is the CSA Board that engages their services, under the advisement of their legal head, Company Secretary Welsh Gwaza.

The fact that Gwaza was previously in the employ of Bowman Gilfillan is one of many potential conflicts of interest. A strong ally of Moroe, Gwaza’s name has been linked with the permanent CEO position and he seems to be in the middle of just about every contentious issue CSA are embroiled in, having recently been the internal auditor and acting chief operating officer as well as head of legal.

Bowman Gilfillan will be acting under his briefing and the appointment of independent directors goes through his office as well.

Which brings us to Dr Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw. This self-confessed non-fan of cricket and reportedly close friend of Gwaza’s, was appointed in May as a temporary independent director and it is astonishing how quickly she rose into a position of power on the board, before she blundered into sponsorship matters on social media this week.

There are many who believe she is a Gwaza placement and the integrity of the whole nominations process ahead of the postponed AGM has been thrown into question by the person handling it, allowing their own nomination to go through while stopping others.

But it is also in the Members Council where Gwaza’s hand is seen in machinations to ensure his cabal retain power.

The current president of Easterns, Xolani Peter Vonya, was one of the spokespeople for the Members Council as they tried to explain why they won’t comply with the Sascoc resolution to set up an independent task team.

With seven board members on the 14-strong Members Council, Vonya provides that eighth vote that allows the status quo to continue and is using it to ensure his place in the feeding trough.

Ken Borland.

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