Cricket SA on mismanagement allegations & Social and Nation Building Report update; Minister present

Meeting report

Opening remarks
The Chairperson congratulated Senegal’s AFCON performance, expressed some disappointment at Bafana Bafana not being at the final and shared pride for the South African referees. She emphasised that caution should continue to be exercised in public as the pandemic is still ongoing.

Mr T Mhlongo (DA) motioned to cover apologies before adopting the meeting’s agenda. The Chairperson noted that this was not standard practice but could be done if there were no objections. The agenda was adopted.

Minister Nathi Mthethwa sent his apologies on being late due a prior commitment. The Chairperson said the Minister would be thirty minutes late.

The Chairperson noted ongoing connectivity issues.

Overview by Department of Sport, Arts and Culture on Cricket South Africa
Mr Vusumuzi Mkhize, Director General: Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC), Ms Sumayya Khan, DDG: Recreation and Sports Development, and Ms Mandisa Tshikwatamba, DDG: Corporate Services were present.

Minister Mthethwa joined before the presentation could begin.

Mr T Mhlongo (DA) raised a point of order on Minister Mthethwa being present but not participating in the meeting. He was concerned that the Minister was preoccupied with another meeting and asked if Minister Mthethwa could indicate on the chat if he had connectivity issues.

The Chairperson indicated once again that there were connectivity issues, which all meeting participants were experiencing, and there should be space for Minister Mthethwa to speak.

Minister Mthethwa objected that he had not been preoccupied. At this point Mr Mhlongo raised a point of order that the Minister’s apology had already been noted and that he was not “undermining [the Minister’s] integrity”.

The Chairperson intervened to clarify the misunderstanding that the Minister’s apology was on being thirty minutes late to the meeting. Mr Mhlongo’s presumption that the Minister had logged onto the meeting but was not present was incorrect, as network connectivity was an issue for all participants, including Mr Mhlongo who had been asked to switch his video off at the beginning of the meeting.

The Chairperson stressed that speakers should not interrupt her or each other. She clarified that she had directed the Director General to speak until the Minister was able to participate, but Minister Mthethwa interrupted to say he had connected. She indicated that Minister Mthethwa had the floor to direct DSAC’s overview on Cricket South Africa (CSA).

Minister Input
Minister Nathi Mthethwa apologised for interrupting the Chairperson and thanked her for intervening.

Minister Mthethwa said that the Department has “not compromised on the issue of transformation”, and that all the sporting codes have started this process. Interventions in CSA were made only after deemed necessary, as sports administrators, rather than the Department, run Sports. The Interim CSA Board had taken charge after calls for change and transformation in cricket and put in place the Social Justice and Nation Building (SJN) process. The Department gives full support to the CSA Board’s work, “without any interference whatsoever”, while the Board understands that the Department’s role is to aid the Board. The Eminent Persons Group (EPG) Report has been shared with the CSA Board, who have some concerns. The end goal is for cricket “to be the winner” and “taken to a higher place”.

The Chairperson added official condolences from the Committee for veteran sports commentator, Dumile Mateza, to his family and to the sports community.

Mr Vusumuzi Mkhize, DSAC Director General, presented on Cricket SA mismanagement allegations and an update on the Social and Nation Building (SJN) Report. This included CSA’s governance strategy through its new Interim Board (which achieved all the goals set out in the nine-point plan); Minister’s support for the SJN initiative; financial support to CSA of R4 million, to be spent on the Girls and Women Programme and the Cricket Hubs Programme; and CSA’s compliance in response to the EPG Report.

See attached presentation for further details

Mr Mkhize said that although progress has been made, there is still work to be done on racism in CSA and aligning team demographics to national demographics.

Cricket South Africa on mismanagement allegations and Social and Nation Building Report
Mr Rihan Richards, CSA President, Mr Lawson Naidoo, CSA Board Chairperson, Mr Pholetsi Moseki, Acting CEO of CSA presented. Mr Rihan Richards said that CSA was busy with a transition as CSA’s structure had changed. Mr Lawson Naidoo acknowledged the men and women’s teams’ outstanding recent performance. He briefed the Committee on the new CSA Board’s composition and the process of appointment, and described the five-year strategic framework for CSA, which is built on three pillars: access, inclusivity, and excellence (administratively and of national team performance). Mr Pholetsi Moseki highlighted that most of the Fundudzi Report recommendations had been implemented; the rest were in the process of being implemented. He provided a summary of the findings and recommendations in the SJN Report, along with a way forward for CSA using the SJN Report. Structural improvements will be made, with matters grouped into broad clusters to be dealt with by sub-committees.

See attached presentation for further details

Discussion
Mr T Mhlongo (DA) emphasised that he did not tolerate racism in any of the sporting codes, not just in cricket. He asked when all the sporting codes would commit to transformation and when public participation and social justice would take place in all sporting codes, not just cricket. He asked the Minister if racism affected all sporting codes and asked when transformation in all sporting codes (not just cricket) would be addressed. To the CSA leadership, he asked for fixed timeframes on implementing SJN findings. He stressed that school sports were vital for transformation and noted that grassroots school sports programmes were lacking.

Mr Mhlongo said that in his experience of the past nine years, EPG had not worked as a measure of transformation. What action would the Minister take against those who refuse to partake in real transformation? When would there be majority independent boards in all sporting codes? He noted the lack of women on the CSA Board (only two women are Board members) and asked if this constituted transformation.

Mr Mhlongo recalled that the CSA CEO position had been vacant since December 2019 and asked the CSA leadership when the role would be appointed. Was shortlisting taking place? Who was the preferred candidate? He said that transformation is all talk with no visible change, as seen over the last 28 years. He expressed shock over the appointment of Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith and the irregularities surrounding it. He said that if the EPG was actually working, a solution to this issue would be found.

He said that it was incorrect to assume that school sports programmes were working, as there is a lack of professional players who had attended rural schools, and players mostly come from former Model C schools. Students at rural schools needed to participate in sports outside of school to have a chance to become professional. He questioned how long it would take for racism and discrimination in CSA to be addressed. How many township schools had functioning cricket grounds?

Mr B Madlingozi (EFF) offered condolences to Dumile Mateza. He noted that whenever the CSA was mentioned in the Sixth Parliament, it was on issues of racism. The CSA Board members had nothing to do with cricket, so the managers had openly disregarded and undermined the Minister. The transformation committee was “useless” and racism was an issue in all sporting codes. What was the Board saying about the Black players who had experienced racism and been suspended? When would they be compensated for their trauma? He hoped that the new Board was not merely for optics and would enact change.

Ms B Marekwa (ANC) referred to Mr Lawson Naidoo’s presentation and noted that Black and white was only considered in transformation, but gender also needed to be considered. She was concerned by the Board composition only including two women. The Board should lead and show commitment to transformation. She referred to Mr Pholetsi Moseki’s presentation on the SJN Report and noted that many concerns were raised in the report. Change needed to be seriously implemented so that racism in cricket was not maintained but transformed. The recommendations in SJN needed to be implemented while incorporating ideas of non-racialism and inclusivity. On the three key pillars mentioned in Mr Lawson Naidoo’s presentation, she said that access in township schools was not the same as in former Model C schools, and that awareness and interest in cricket needed to be raised in young girls and boys (rather than when they were older and access to sports became harder). The presentation stated that women’s cricket would have a committee comprised of women. Women’s cricket was isolated and seen as a women’s issue, which reflected that women’s cricket was secondary to men’s cricket.
 
Ms R Adams (ANC) noted the R4 million financial support from DSAC to CSA and asked if there was a guarantee that CSA would stick to its goals. Was there no internal financial control system at CSA to detect “overpayment and fruitless expenditure”? How would the CSA Board and management ensure stability at CSA during the disciplinary action against the Director and Head Coach of the men’s team? When would the disciplinary conclude? With all the allegations of racial discrimination at CSA, how would the Board ensure the country remained united behind the national team?

Ms V Malomane (ANC) emphasised that racism should not be tolerated. She viewed the lack of women leadership in CSA as a problem reflective of the larger issues in women in cricket. She called for the new Board to solve the gender imbalance. When would CSA appoint a full-time CEO? She noted the lack of infrastructure in rural areas, which had led to few children from rural schools playing cricket. There needed to be an emphasis on school sports in rural schools. How would CSA ensure that race relations, acceptance and tolerance would be improved within the national team? Had anyone challenged the SJN report?

Ms V van Dyk (DA) was concerned that the SJN process had raised many issues. The process had merely raised issues and the recommendations and findings contained in the report were merely tentative. She was concerned that after almost 30 years of democracy these types of reports were still needed. What was the total cost indication of the SJN Report and what were the cost projections for further investigations? How would CSA avoid high costs that may be incurred when the report was challenged?

The investigation also pointed out that CSA was making efforts to provide cricket facilities in remote areas of South Africa to create opportunities for “disadvantaged [children] to enjoy the game”. Millions of Rands had been spent on development programmes and regional performance centres, but there had been very little output from these interventions, as currently there were no mechanisms in place to maintain such facilities. What was the Department doing on the lack of (sporting) infrastructure in townships? What had government done to create an environment for transformation in cricket at the grassroots-level? How much had been invested in the provision and maintenance of basic cricket infrastructure per province? Increased access to sport was a key transformation goal. On school cricket, according to the EPG transformation report, out of 25 000 schools, less than 10% participated in sport. This showed a failure on government’s side to support school sports development and grassroots programmes. Was there a Memorandum of Understanding in place with the Department of Basic Education? What was in place to address the lack of access to opportunities for cricket?

Mr D Joseph (DA) agreed with the Minister that there should be no compromise on transformation and that where the leadership in sport failed, the Department needed to intervene, without being intimidated by former sports figures or “people with money”. Sports needed to be transformed. He asked for a breakdown of the plan to spend the R4 million on the Girls’ and Women’s Cricket Programme and Cricket Hubs.

On the Fundudzi Report recommendation to increase controls, who oversaw Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher’s appointments? Mr Joseph called for transparency. The findings and recommendations of the SJN were important and CSA should be allowed to correct their issues without interference, with the Department and Committee overseeing processes. He suggested that a permanent Ombudsman be appointed for all sports codes to deal with discrimination to prevent intimidation. Graeme Smith’s independent contract with its own terms had set a bad precedent and he asked what rules or agreements were in place to protect the team and management that were on tour. The Ministry and Department should support CSA with the findings, recommendations, and any action plan in the SJN Report that could be legally challenged.

Mr M Zondi (ANC) asked the Minister to respond to all sporting codes, though acknowledged the time constraints of this. He unapologetically supported the Minister’s initiatives to end racism and discrimination in sports and in CSA. He acknowledged CSA’s many challenges and said that the interim board’s intervention to deal with these was needed. He demanded that there be stability in cricket whilst achieving transformation. He called for the Minister to continue with transformation and nation-building initiatives.

Mr Zondi welcomed the new Board setting up sub-committees to deal with different aspects of the SJN Report and said the Committee would wait for a report-back on the sub-committees’ progress and recommendations in the coming months. He asked if the appointment of Mark Boucher had occurred before or after the interim board had received the SJN Report. He said that the Committee would wait for the results of the hearing on the allegations against Mark Boucher.

Mr C Sibisi (NFP) noted that even after 28 years of democracy there were still issues of transformation, racism and discrimination. He asked why CSA could not “transform at once” and “do the right thing”. Mr Sibisi had connectivity problem, so was asked to put his questions in the chat.

The Chairperson asked if the new Board would do anything about Khaya Zondo being replaced by a white man. What action was taken? What were the consequences of discrimination and what interventions would be taken? She asked why Mark Boucher had been given special leave and how he had been appointed. How would the irregular appointment of Graeme Smith be dealt with? She noted that racism was present in all sporting codes, but was especially glaring in CSA. The new Board would be faced with huge structural issues. The Department needed to fast-track change and put timeframes in place.

Racism, discrimination, and the lack of opportunities, which had been present during Apartheid, were still present now. Space was needed for players to just be South African. Gender also needed to be considered, as opposed to “women’s issues”. The Committee had received emails from the public challenging the SJN Report, but this had not been forwarded to CSA and needed to be done. The new Board needed to handle it and the Portfolio Committee would support the new Board only if the Board stepped up to deal with racism, transformation, and challenges to the Fundudzi Report. She commented on the continued prevalence of racism after 1994 and reiterated that players should be seen as South African players and not Black or white players.

Mr Rihan Richards, CSA President said that all discrimination was unacceptable, accepted CSA’s past failures and said that these failures should be corrected. The new system made the Board members mutually accountable to one another. Transformation had been included in all facets of CSA’s business, as mentioned in the presentation. This ensured that CSA’s actions would be decisive and deliberate.

Mr Lawson Naidoo, CSA Board Chairperson said that racism had no place in cricket, just as it had no place in society. Cricket was a microcosm of society and thus the broader issue of racism in society extended to cricket. Transformation was included in all facets of the five-year strategic plan (administrative, governance, playing).

He clarified that the Board was not an interim board but was appointed in June 2021 and would be in office for three years as a permanent Board.

On the question of implementation, he hoped that the Board would provide a consolidated view soon as part of the five-year plan, which would detail timeframes, targets and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). A broader, considered and holistic view of the lessons in the SJN Report would be incorporated into the five-year strategy.

He offered condolences to Dumile Mateza who had also provided input on the SJN hearings.

Mr Lawson Naidoo said he would defer the question on Black players being suspended without pay to the CSA CEO and said that he had not been aware of this occurring.

Unfortunately, nothing could be done about the Board composition which had only two women members, as this was an issue with the appointment process. More members could be added to the subcommittees to rectify this, or this would be dealt with when appointing the Women’s Cricket Committee. Transformation of cricket needed to include girls and women at all levels of the game.

The Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith, and the Head Coach, Mark Boucher, were appointed in December 2019, before the interim Board was put in place and before the SJN Report. There were some irregularities in those processes, though the appointments were subsequently endorsed by the former CSA Board. When the SJN Report was received on 10 December 2021, action was taken on the Mark Boucher allegations. A disciplinary inquiry to deal with this matter would be held on 16-20 May 2022.

On challenges to the SJN Report, no formal notifications had been received by CSA, but would be dealt with if any challenges arose. On Ms van Dyk’s comment about the SJN Report concluding remarks on the “tentative nature of the findings”, more formal processes had been put in place to provide finality on Mark Boucher’s racism allegations.

On matters relating to Khaya Zondo, AB de Villiers, Thami Tsolekile, other players and CSA affiliates, this was still under consideration by the Board and would form part of the consolidated report CSA would provide “in due course”. Where affiliates of CSA had been implicated in the report, these were autonomous structures of CSA and would be responsible for infringements that occurred amongst its members, so the Board would maintain oversight but not intervene directly. The CSA Board has had several engagements with the team and has regularly communicated with the captains and team manager to improve open communication and flow of information.

Mr Lawson Naidoo said that grassroots-level cricket could not be improved solely by CSA and that CSA had been discussing with the Department how to address access to cricket in rural schools.

The Board was committed to CSA’s growth and sustainability by ensuring that racism was dealt with.

Ms Muditambi Ravele, CSA Board Member, responded about facilities in schools and townships. Facility plans were in place. Cricket Hubs in township facilities accommodated schools and were present in all provinces (17 in WC, 15 in GP, 11 in EC, 2 in MP, 11 in NW, 3 in LP, 11 in KZN, 4 in NC, 3 in FS). She noted that building facilities were not CSA’s responsibility, but that CSA dealt with it to increase access to cricket in disadvantaged communities. Other programmes were in progress to expand facilities in communities.  

Ms Ravele said that rather than isolating women’s cricket as women’s issues, it had been separated to give attention to the specific issues women deal with in cricket.

Mr Pholetsi Moseki, Acting CSA CEO, commented that CSA’s responses might have come across as defensive, but it was more recognising the multiple challenges facing CSA.

He responded to Ms Marekwa’s concern of taking promising players from township schools to former Model C schools. This developed their potential in schools which already had facilities, but this was a structural issue and not an ideal situation. Building facilities in schools was not CSA’s responsibility as there were financial constraints, but the Cricket Hubs around the country accommodated schools.

On Mr Joseph’s question on financial support from the government, Mr Moseki replied that controls were in place to ensure the money was used for what it should be. CSA received R4 million from the Department, which was used to support Women’s Cricket and the Hubs. More would be required to address all structural issues. Over R35 million was spent on Cricket Hubs, R6-7 million on Women’s Cricket development programmes.

On infrastructure, there was only so much CSA could do, as it was local government’s responsibility. He believed that the Hubs were the best way to deal with access to cricket facilities nationwide.

Mr Lawson Naidoo, CSA Board Chairperson, recalled that the CEO position was advertised in August 2021. He said that CSA had engaged with a recruitment company to deal with this process, and had reached the shortlisting stage, but no deal was made. CSA had engaged with a new recruitment agency and hoped to make an announcement on the CEO position in the coming weeks.

Mr Rihan Richards, CSA President, said that fruitless spending did not occur as CSA had processes in place to ensure spending was properly documented and had external auditors who monitored and ensured that money was spent correctly. Money was mostly spent on the Cricket Hubs.

Minister Mthethwa said that following the SJN Inquiry, which was an initiative by CSA, he had encouraged other sports organisations to do the same and follow CSA. Although this Committee meeting was on racism in cricket, he supported EPG processes in all sports. He said that EPG processes were important in transformation.

He disagreed with the comment on nothing being done for school sports. The School Sports Championship Programme in communities continued running and in two weeks’ time the inaugural FIFA Pan-African Championships for Schools would begin. There would be two teams representing South Africa: a boys’ team from Letlhabile in Brits and a girls’ team from Edenvale. He said that work was being done and that challenges remained. Transformation was not just about gender and race, but also the economy and administration of the sector. EPG looked at the global picture of transformation. Media attention to school sport was not at a detailed level. There were 25 000 schools in the country, and only 10% had been reported on. Some progress was seen with media reporting.

Minister Mthethwa said he had disbanded the CSA Board that had approved the appointment of Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith.

More work could still be done on access in rural and township schools. 40% of the conditional grant was allocated to school sports for the provision of equipment, appointment of coordinators, participation in district sports. The Department prioritised townships, villages, and rural areas in providing funding, equipment, and programmes. This included the regional Cricket Hubs. The Minister highlighted the contributions of sports administrators to the SJN process and called for township schools programmes to be revived. Schedule 5B of the Constitution placed the responsibility of providing sports facilities on local government, not DSAC. Municipalities’ budgets were much larger than the Department’s.

Minister Mthethwa said that engagement with the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) needed to continue, in response to Ms van Dyk’s question. He agreed with Mr Joseph’s call for accountability and transformation. The CSA Board’s five-year strategy showed their commitment to actual outcomes on transformation. He agreed on the need for fixed timeframes for CSA to achieve goals.

Mr Vusumuzi Mkhize, DSAC DG, confirmed that the monetary value of school sport programmes in the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) was 40% of R601 000 000. He saw this as an investment in rural and township schools.

Follow-up discussion
Mr Madlingozi asked what CSA was doing about the Black players who were suspended without pay, while white players were still being paid, despite all being suspected of match-fixing. He asked when compensation would occur. Why was Haroon Lorgat brought onto the interim Board when he was cited in the Fundudzi Report? Where were the financial control systems at the time? Why was Mr Naasei Appiah alone
settled out of court? Money was wasted on lawyers who only target Black professionals. Why was Mark Boucher not suspended or “kicked out” without compensation?

Mr Mhlongo said that not enough had been done for school sports. Links between school sports and the Federations were lacking. There were building facilities but no professionals to oversee the sports. Would Mark Boucher’s hearing be public like the SJN was? How many former Board members from the disbanded Board were on the new Board? He asked for definite timeframes and names of the shortlisted candidates for the CSA CEO position. What were the challenges with filling the CEO position? The Thabang Moroe matter had still not been resolved. He noted that Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith were not suspended and instead made to lead the national team and this decision compromised the players. He agreed with the idea of an Ombudsman to deal with discrimination in all sporting codes. EPG was “working slightly”, but there were still issues with transformation. Had the SJN hearing achieved all its objectives?

The Chairperson asked if the Department was aware of the R50 million in legal fees. Why was R50 million needed for legal services when CSA could have settled out-of-court? She asked for clarity on all allegations and what would be done with discrepancies concerning the outgoing Board.

Mr Rihan Richards replied about the number of former Board members sitting on the new Board, saying that two non-independent members were on the new Board and there was one independent member who had previously served in 2018.

Mr Lawson Naidoo said that there was no evidence of racism in the match-fixing outcomes, in response to Mr Mhlongo. On compensation, there were no specific recommendations from the Ombudsman, but the Board would consider the SJN Report in its entirety before making a decision. The new Board would follow due processes to ensure its decision on Mark Boucher was beyond reproach. There was no legal basis to enforce the suspension of Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith. CSA had received legal advice that this would lead to unnecessary litigation. The matter on the former CSA CEO had been resolved. His termination had been confirmed and the process had concluded. The search for a new permanent CEO had already started. There were no details on shortlisted candidates yet and it was unrealistic to give a fixed date, but there was hope that the process would be resolved within a month. The legal fees were an unavoidable matter. All recommendations from the Fundudzi Report had been implemented, as reported in CSA’s presentation at the beginning of the meeting.

The Chairperson said that DSAC had to use most of its budget on CSA’s legal fees, which should have been used on development. Why was it not settled out-of-court, especially considering budget cuts?

Mr Mhlongo asked for the legal advisor company name and if the legal advice could be compared with the Department’s legal advice.

Mr Vusumuzi Mkhize, DSAC DG, replied that defending CSA’s position in court was the best solution and that litigation was required. This limited litigation costs. Mark Boucher’s suspension was the CSA Board’s responsibility, not DSAC’s, as the Minister could not deal with employees of the Board, unless there was a clear breakdown of governance and incapacity of the Board to deal with it. He hoped that the issue of former Board members who are new Board members, despite “damning allegations”, would be fast-tracked. On the lack of linkages between school sports and Federations, DSAC had encouraged the Federations to establish working relationships with schools at structural and governance levels. School sports structures should fall under Federations. On the MOU, final consultations were being done with the Department of Basic Education, the Minister and relevant stakeholders on school sports.

Minister Mthethwa said that he had seen the new Board’s commitment to transformation after having engaged with CSA over the past 15 months and said that the Department would do everything possible to support change in cricket.

Mr Rihan Richards reiterated CSA’s commitment to change and said that even though obstacles would be present, he was committed to dealing with the challenges within CSA.

Committee minutes
Committee minutes from its meetings on 01, 03 and 07 December were considered and adopted.

First Term Committee Draft Programme
The Committee Draft Programme for the first term of 2022 was considered and adopted.

The meeting was adjourned.