Cricket South Africa members' council asks entire board to step down
CSA has until Tuesday to inform sports minister Mthethwa why he should not intervene in their affairs
Firdose Moonda
23-Oct-2020
A young South Africa fan waves a flag in support of his country • Alex Davidson/Getty Images
The Cricket South Africa (CSA) members' council - the organisation's highest decision-making body, made up of the 14 provincial affiliate presidents - asked the entire CSA board to step down on Thursday evening, as the situation in the game's governing body became worse, but, ESPNcricinfo understands, no board member has actually stood down yet, though that may change in the coming days.
CSA has until Tuesday to inform South Africa's sports minister Nathi Mthethwa why he should not use the country's National Sports and Recreation Act to intervene in its affairs following months of administrative upheaval. The members' council will meet again on Saturday to deliberate further.
Earlier this month, Mthethwa expressed his frustration that CSA had refused to comply with the instructions from South Africa's Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), which had asked for CSA's board and executive to step aside while it conducts an investigation. SASCOC also wanted unrestricted access to the forensic report, which CSA had used to fire former CEO Thabang Moroe, and which implicates others at CSA, including acting president Beresford Williams. When CSA and SASCOC reached an impasse, SASCOC asked the minister to intervene.
Among other things, Mthethwa could withdraw funding for CSA and no longer recognise it as the cricket governing body. While those measures seem unlikely - especially as Mthethwa has approved an incoming tour of England next month - he is understood to want the board to step aside. On Thursday, those on the members' council who do not sit on the board - eight of the 14 - asked the entire board, both independent and non-independent members, to stand down.
The members' council cannot order board members to vacate their posts and any resignations must happen willingly. At least one independent board director, Dheven Dharmalingam, has indicated he would volunteer his resignation if the council requested it.
Should the entire board be disbanded, CSA will likely have to elect an interim committee to act in that role. The committee though might have to stand until the AGM, which is now scheduled for December 5 after being postponed from September. A new president and several new board members were due to be ushered in at the September AGM, but now, chances are that an entirely new board could be put in place.
That still leaves unanswered questions over the fate of members of CSA's executive, who may also have been mentioned in the report. CSA is still without a permanent CEO after Moroe was suspended last December and dismissed this August. The organisation is currently operating under Kugandrie Govender, its second acting CEO of the last ten months.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent