AGM delay is a step forward for Cricket SA

Cricket South Africa’s decision to postpone its AGM until it receives
clarity on what exactly is contained in the forensic reports it has commissioned was generally received as a rare bit of good news for the embattled organisation on Tuesday.

CSA was meant to stage its AGM on
Saturday, with a new president and several other directors expected to be elected, but that has now been put off
indefinitely with the organisation saying it needed to first undergo a governance and structural review based on the recommendations of both the Fundudzi forensic report commissioned when former CEO Thabang Moroe was suspended and also the Nicholson Commission of Inquiry that dates all the way back to 2012 and relates to the Gerald Majola bonus scandal.

Moroe was fired last week, with Kugandrie Govender appointed acting CEO after Jacques Faul stood down from that temporary position the week before.

Most importantly, the postponement means the CSA members council has
stood united for the first time and flexed their muscle in bringing the board to order and, crucially, they will now get to see the forensic report into Moroe which is believed to also implicate several board members in governance issues.

The CSA board initially refused to release the report to the members council, comprising the 14 provincial affiliates, even though they had commissioned the inquiry, and then said they had to peruse it at the Bowman Gilfillan legal offices, only after signing a non-disclosure
agreement.

“It’s a win, definitely. It means we can get our house 100% in order before the AGM,” said a representative of the members council.

“It gives us more time to make sure of that, and we are optimistic that we will get access to the forensic report with conditions that won’t hamper us.

“This has come about because of pressure from the members council, who have now shown they have teeth.”

With South African cricket lurching through almost daily crises in recent times, both the Proteas men’s and women’s sides (through their players’
union) issued a statement on Tuesday
calling for CSA to put the good of the game as a whole first.

“We are concerned about the future
of our game,” the statement read.

“At board and operational level,
CSA has lurched from crisis to crisis over the past year. Issues such as suspensions, dismissals, resignations, forensic audits, confidential leaks, litigation and financial mismanagement have dominated the cricket headlines.

“This is happening at a time when we are having challenging conversations about transformation, and in an environment where the financial viability of the game is under major threat.

“High standards are expected of us as players. To succeed as Proteas teams, we know we have to put aside personal differences and work together.

“We require the same of our administrators. Politics and self-interest
appear to trump cricket imperatives and good governance.

“Decisions must be made that are in the best interests of cricket, failing which the game we love may be irreparably damaged in this country.”

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