- Cricket South Africa's former acting chief executive officer Jacques Faul said former Proteas assistant coach Enoch Nkwe was devastated at not being considered for the top coaching job.
- That position went to Mark Boucher, with Nkwe settling for the assistant coaching berth that he's now vacated.
- Faul also delved into why Boucher was appointed ahead of Nkwe.
Cricket South Africa's former acting chief executive officer Jacques Faul said former Proteas assistant coach Enoch Nkwe was "devastated" at not being appointed the permanent Proteas coach in 2019.
Nkwe, who had plenty of success as the Lions coach, was appointed as the interim coach after West Indian Ottis Gibson was fired after the disastrous 2019 World Cup.
Nkwe then presided over the terrible 2019 tour of India where South Africa was clouted 3-0 by India in a one-sided Test series.
Testifying at the CSA Cricket for Social Justice and Nation-building hearings on Tuesday, Faul said Nkwe told him that he aspired to the top coaching job and revealed that Nkwe was underpaid for the position.
Nkwe was appointed as Mark Boucher's assistant and has subsequently vacated the position.
"He was devastated and like with any person who is acting, you have an expectation to become the permanent person," Faul said.
"He did convey that to me, but he said nobody spoke to him. He had a very good track record in provincial cricket, but he didn't have a very good record in India.
"If I was going to pronounce that Nkwe was going to be demoted, he hadn't even agreed to it. The situation could have been that we could have had a different assistant coach.
"I was shocked at what Nkwe was earning as a head coach. It seemed to be much less than what we budgeted for, even in 2012."
Nkwe was beaten to the post by former Proteas wicket-keeper Boucher, who was appointed by former Proteas captain Graeme Smith, the director of cricket
Faul said he wasn't involved in the process of hiring the coaching executives, but the board was happy to approve the appointments of the duo.
"Smith said they needed a hardened cricketer and Boucher had won a similar amount of trophies as Nkwe," Faul said.
"Boucher had a more senior profile as an international player, he was a well-celebrated cricketer and I think he was their hope in terms of inspiring people.
"I can't speak for Smith on why he appointed Boucher. I'm just speaking on what Smith relayed to me.
"When the Titans were doing well, we needed someone like Boucher. There were a lot of people playing for the Proteas and they would look up to him.
"I can't comment on whether he appointed his friend, but the board also had an overview and approved it."
Faul said there was an objection to the length of Boucher's four-year contract despite the unanimous board decision.
"There was only one objection to the duration of the length of the contracts and that was from Angelo Carolissen from Boland," Faul said.
"The appointment of the staff more or less happened in the same way and it was approved by the board."
