- Former Titans seamer Ethy Mbhalati pleaded with Cricket South Africa's Cricket for Social Justice and Nation-building project to look into how the 2015 Ram Slam match-fixing investigation was handled.
- Mbhalati, who played for the Titans for more than 10 years, was banned from cricket for 10 years for his role in the saga.
- Mbhalati also criticised the South African Cricketer's Association for not handling black players' issues properly.
Former Titans seamer Ethy Mbhalati has requested Cricket South Africa's Cricket for Social Justice and Nation-building initiative to relook the investigative processes of the 2015/16 Ram Slam match-fixing probe.
Unlike Alviro Petersen and Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who dedicated the bulk of their testimonies to the match-fixing saga last week, Mbhalati, under oath, spoke at length on Monday about the various incidents of alleged racial and financial discrimination he experienced as a player at the Titans from 2002 until 2016.
The 39-year-old Mbhalati received a 10-year sanction for his role in the match-fixing scandal but claims he did not receive a charge sheet that explained what he did wrong.
"I never received a charge sheet that stated the charges that I'm facing, and I couldn't even prepare myself to defend the charges I was facing because of a lack of a charge sheet," Mbhalati said
"I don't think it was fair for me not to see what the charges were. I only got the sanction agreement on the day when I was supposed to sign it, and everything was done via email.
"I didn't want to sign my affidavit because I felt my charges were too harsh, and I needed to appeal them.
"In the 2015/16 season, I didn't even play T20 games for the Titans because I wasn't even contracted to play in the format. I was not part of that; my lawyers knew about that and confirmed that with the Titans chief executive officer."
Mbhalati also took aim at the South African Cricketer's Association (SACA), believing their "cosy" relationship with CSA rendered them ineffective when it came to redressing discrimination matters when it came to black players.
"I don't think they do what they're supposed to do as a trade union. My understanding of a trade union is to fight for the best interests of the players. In my opinion, I don't think SACA did this," Mbhalati said.
"It's a sweetheart union and their relationship with CSA is too cosy, I feel they forget what their core job is, and they battle to fight the racial discrimination experienced at national and provincial levels.
"When you go to them and complain about contracts, they'll tell you to go back to your CEO or the coach. It becomes easier for them at the national level because of the black players in the national team.
"Its leadership is not sensitive to the suffering of black players because they've never walked a mile in our shoes.
"They once helped a white player who was in a financial crisis, and their house was on the verge of being auctioned. They helped him to pay that, an example of their unequal treatment from a racial perspective."
Mbhalati also felt that black players were unfairly singled out in the media for disciplinary issues while those of their white colleagues were swept under the rug.
An example he cited was that of Aaron Phangiso's drunk flight incident in 2016 when he was offloaded in Dubai.
"I remember Aaron Phangiso's drunk flight incident that was all over the media, from where Phangi told me the story saying he wasn't the only drunk one, but they picked him," Mbhalati said.
"There was an incident where a white player was arrested for driving under the influence at Northerns, but there are no disciplinary measures taken against that player.
"There also was an incident I witnessed of a white player being involved in a fight at a club, but nothing happened.
"When a black player makes a mistake, the next morning, it's in the papers and on TV. When it's white players, it's swept under the carpet. That frames non-white players as ill-disciplined."
Mbhalati also recalled a painful moment from his benefit season where he said the majority of his team-mates, the Titans executive management, and the Northerns Cricket Union board didn't go to his benefit game.
"Only a few players I was close to came to my benefit game, along with a couple of guys from the Lions," Mbhalati said.
"The majority of the players I played with at the Titans were invited, along with the CEO, the board, and the coach.
"None of them came, and the only person who came was one of my friends at CSA, and he wasn't part of the Northerns board.
"That's when I felt that loyalty was over-rated, and they gave me only two kombis to transport the players.
"I was loyal to them for so many years, and they didn't come and celebrate with me."