- Cricket South Africa has released the findings of its SJN report.
- Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza believes that the appointments of Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith were "flawed" procedurally.
- Ntsebeza said race played no part in CSA's match-fixing investigation.
On Wednesday, Cricket South Africa (CSA) made public its report that followed the Social Justice and Nation Building (SJN) hearings this year that sought to address racism, discrimination, and exclusion in the game.
The report from Ombudsman Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza can be seen in its 235-page entirety here.
Key takeaways from Ntsebeza's findings include his assessment that the appointments of Proteas men's head coach Mark Boucher and Director of Cricket Graeme Smith were both "flawed" procedurally.
Boucher has been in his role since December 2019, after Smith was first appointed to the DOC role in an interim capacity in the same month before taking on the position full-time in April 2020.
The report pointed to former CEO Thabang Moroe's headhunting of Smith in 2019 as operating outside of CSA's recruitment policy, while it was accepted that there was bias from Moroe towards Smith in a process that saw Corrie van Zyl, Hussein Manack and Dave Nosworthy also interviewed.
The report further points to Smith's refusal to report to Moroe as showing "racial bias against black leadership at CSA".
On Boucher's appointment, Ntsebeza said Smith "did not follow any CSA policy" in appointing Boucher with no interviews conducted, while Boucher also did not possess the Level 4 coaching qualification required for the position.
The report says there was no clear reason as to why Boucher was the head coach position ahead of Enoch Nkwe, who had served as the Proteas team director in an interim capacity up until then.
Nkwe, who was appointed as assistant coach under Boucher, does possess a Level 4 coaching certificate, and the report ruled that he had been discriminated against in the appointment process.
Another takeaway from Ntsebeza was that race played "no part" in Cricket SA's match-fixing investigation that saw the likes of Thami Tsolekile, Gulam Bodi, and Lonwabo Tsotsobe implicated, charged and suspended from the game.
CSA's full statement:
"CSA is very pleased to have received the report, which follows the Ombudsman's important hearings into the causes, nature and extent of racial discrimination and lack of transformation in all cricket structures since unification 30 years ago.
"The Ombudsman's process was initially due to last four months but was later extended to over six months at the Ombudsman's request. CSA made available extensive legal and other resources to this Ombudsman for this process, including spending more than R7.5 million on the process, despite an initial budget of R5 million.
"While the Ombudsman's report commends CSA's efforts to address the injustices of the past, it highlights that much still needs to be done. It recommends improved internal and confidential grievance procedures and for mediation procedures to be put in place as a means of giving aggrieved players the platform to air their frustrations.
"The Ombudsman makes it clear that CSA's efforts to provide cricketing facilities in remote areas and create opportunities for the disadvantaged to enjoy the game of cricket can only succeed if CSA, the government and other relevant stakeholders' start from scratch' in achieving the goal of making cricket a truly transformed sport in disadvantaged areas.
"He also raises concerns over an 'exclusionary culture' in certain incidents in the past when it came to selection of Black players.
"He has called on CSA to revisit the match fee system, while a lack of sensitivity and understanding of the racist undertones of comments made by former players was also highlighted.
"Furthermore, it was found that work has to be done in rolling out recreational projects that educate players on the diverse cultures and languages that exist within the team and that will give the team an opportunity to come up with strategies on how the team is going to socially integrate
"The report found that race played no part in the match-fixing investigation and the Ombudsman could not find any evidence supporting the allegation that Black players were targeted during the investigation.
"The Ombudsman finds that the appointments of Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher were flawed from a procedural perspective.
"CSA's Board agrees wholeheartedly that the issues facing cricket 'are a complex interaction of multiple factors stemming from the history of this country and consequent socio-economic factors that prevail today.'
"CSA confirms that although the Report is titled an 'interim Report', the Ombudsman has now discharged his mandate and no further report is expected."
"We look forward to the report and will engage with it and its recommendations in order to assist in ensuring that we do indeed move the game of cricket onto a new and different trajectory," said CSA chairperson Lawson Naidoo in his closing remarks at the SJN hearings.
"We are thus committed to considering the findings and recommendations with an open mind. We will look at the report objectively, having regard to our social justice obligations, and our duties as guardians of the game in the Republic of South Africa."
This is a developing story ...