Cricket SA shambles and Moroe failure exposed by forensic report

Judging by the summary of the Fundudzi Forensic Report released by Cricket South Africa on Monday, it would seem dismissed CEO Thabang Moroe failed to “act with the degree of care, skill and diligence that may reasonably be expected” on an almost daily basis, while the report exposed just how shambolic the running of the game had become under his watch and that of the federation’s board.

The Fundudzi Report was commissioned, according to non-independent director John Mogodi in his presentation to the media, to “investigate various governance issues, lapses in CSA controls and governance oversights” between January 2016 and December 2019. And it uncovered an extensive list of actions and inactions that justified disciplinary measures against Moroe.

But certain other staff members, most notably former chief operating officer Naasei Appiah, who was dismissed in mid-August, were also implicated in misgovernance and the board itself was accused of dereliction of its fiduciary duties.

Moroe, however, was mentioned a dozen times in the report: for contravening the CSA Code of Conduct when he revoked five journalists’ media accreditation; his failure to ensure the South African Cricketers’ Association was paid its image rights timeously which amounted to treating the players’ union with disdain and causing CSA to suffer reputational damage; several instances where he failed to follow procurement protocols and did not act in the best interests of CSA; misleading the board when it came to exercising its step-in rights with the Western Province Cricket Association; failing to ensure due diligence was done in signing Global Sports Commerce for the Mzansi Super League; excessive credit card expenditure and the irregular appointment of a consultant who was not qualified for the post as head of human resources.

John Mogodi addresses the media during the CSA Forensic Report Summary tele press conference on Monday. Picture: Gallo Images

In addition, former CSA independent director Mohamed Iqbal Khan and current acting president Beresford Williams were both accused of contravening the Companies Act due to a conflict of interest surrounding FinCom’s decision to make loans to the Western Province Cricket Association.

The board also approved the agreement with GSC despite never being shown the due diligence report it had previously insisted on and GSC’s failure to provide a bank guarantee. Only 8% of the R169 million the board had approved in loans to its affiliates for stadium upgrades had been paid back since May 2017, with several of the provincial presidents that benefited from the loans sitting on the CSA board.

Fundudzi also found that CSA had no effective internal audit unit for the last four years and the extension of Khan and Dawn Mokhobo’s terms as independent directors last year contravened its own Memorandum of Incorporation.

Mogodi said CSA’s lawyers, Bowmans Gilfillan, had recommended disciplinary processes against other employees of CSA and that although it was still early days in terms of those investigations, “we have already taken action on many findings and the board are determined to act without fear or favour. We will not tolerate fraud, corruption or mismanagement”.

Fundudzi recommended criminal charges be laid in respect of the Service Provider X deal which saw Moroe and Appiah, without following the correct procurement processes, approve payment of nearly R3.5 million for services that had not been delivered.

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