Cricket SA is confident the decision to put miscreant unions under administration was correct

CEO of Cricket South Africa Pholetsi Moseki. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)

16 Feb 2025

Last week, Cricket South Africa placed Border and Northern Cape Cricket under administration after ‘poor governance’ by the unions.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) last week put both Border and Northern Cape Cricket (NCC) under administration. Most sectors of the national cricketing fraternity have welcomed the decision to put the especially financially stricken NCC under the powers of the national administration.

However, NCC president Gibson Molale has claimed he is being targeted by CSA.

This is despite his union failing to produce unqualified financial statements, failing to hold annual general meetings for the past two years and the absence of a permanent financial manager since 2023.

Halfway through 2023, former NCC financial manager Jean Pierre van Niekerk was suspended after defrauding the union of about half a million rands. Van Niekerk was sentenced to four years in prison in August last year.

Each of the 15 cricket unions in the country must send unqualified audited annual reports to CSA. NCC had failed to do so since the 2022/23 season.

NCC submitted annual reports for the 2022/23 season, but they are not unqualified by auditors PwC, noting irregularities and missing documents, while the 2023/24 reports remain outstanding.

These are the reasons, among others, that CSA has decided to put the Northern Cape union under administration. This decision was made and confirmed to the media on 12 February, with former Eastern Province CEO Jesse Chellan placed by CSA as interim administrator of NCC. Former Gauteng Cricket CEO Greg Fredericks will take over at Border.

“This decision follows challenges in meeting obligations outlined in CSA Regulations, including failure to timeously submit unqualified audited financial statements and concerns around the general lack of adherence to standard governance practices,” read a CSA statement.

“As a result, the Boards of Border and NCC will be temporarily dissolved, with CSA-appointed Administrators stepping in to manage the affairs of the unions for the duration of this step-in period.”

In the statement, CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki noted the following:

“The decision was made after thoughtful consideration by the CSA Board and after extensive engagements with both Unions,” it read.

“We believe this step-in will help Border and NCC improve their operational, financial, and governance structures, ultimately strengthening their standing as CSA members moving forward.”

CEO of Cricket South Africa Pholetsi Moseki. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)

Claims

Speaking to Daily Maverick, Molale claimed that the decision to place NCC under CSA’s administration was taken without the vote to do so being undertaken anonymously.

“Five board members decided [not to] participate in this process because they said the process was not fair towards these people,” Molale claimed.

“We asked for a dispute resolution because we were not happy with the entire process.

“They say we never provided them with evidence, but we know that there’s evidence that we provided them and the board, hence the other five board members didn’t want to participate [in the vote] because they’ve seen the proof that we have been in communication with CSA.”

Molale did not provide this evidence to Daily Maverick at the time of publishing.

Before NCC was put under administration, Molale was appointed as part of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2027 Cricket World Cup to be hosted in SA, with former minister of finance Trevor Manuel heading the committee.

Molale has not been removed from his position on the LOC, but he fears that his union being placed under administration may put that post in jeopardy.

“This was a planned thing because when I was nominated to be on the LOC on 15 December … the 16th of December I got a letter from CSA that, ‘Gibson please be aware there is an investigation of your financials, if you are found guilty of this, there is a big possibility that we will remove you from the LOC’,” he said.

“This was a pre-empted move from CSA, hence I feel aggrieved with their move.”

Molale says he has requested a dispute resolution to halt the process of NCC being put under administration.

“Irrespective that we’ve put a dispute resolution in, they continued to put us under administration,” he said.

Daily Maverick approached CSA – who expect litigation from Molale – with Molale’s claims. CSA’s response was as follows:

“CSA is satisfied with the process followed and extensive engagements with NCC prior to instituting this action.

“Mr Molale is welcome to furnish your publication with evidence to the contrary.

“It is worth noting that CSA has had constructive engagements with the Members’ Council of the affected Affiliates, and they are in support of the action.”

Decision welcomed

Despite Molale’s claims, groups within South African cricket have welcomed CSA’s decision on NCC.

“From a Saca perspective, we support this move because there can be no compromise on good governance at the provinces,” Andrew Breetzke, CEO of the South African Cricketers’ Association, told Daily Maverick.

“And the failure of provinces, specifically these two, to meet basic governance standards has impacted the game negatively.

“It impacts the provincial structure. It impacts the players’ ability to play within those provinces, it impacts transformation.

“It impacts the whole Cricket South Africa infrastructure and reputation. So, we think this is a very positive move because good governance is not negotiable.”

Sport Employees Unite (SEU), the representative trade union of non-playing staff in cricket and rugby, also welcomed the CSA announcement that it was exercising its step-in rights at Border and NCC.

“We are encouraged by the decision of CSA to utilise its step-in rights at these two cricket unions. Our dealings with these two entities over the past 24 months were challenging, to say the least,” said Piet Heymans, chief executive of SEU.

“We spent numerous hours dealing with matters such as the nonpayment of overtime and ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act at Northern Cape Cricket.

“Just recently, one of our members did not receive his leave payout after he resigned and the matter had to be referred to the CCMA, and even after the CCMA ordered Northern Cape Cricket to make such payment, no payment was made.

“Poor corporate governance appears to be the root cause of most of these matters and disputes.

“We came to the conclusion that these two cricket unions were not capable of addressing this and required the intervention of CSA. We look forward to working with the appointed administrators to ensure stable and fair working environments for our members.” DM

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Claims

Decision welcomed