Noose tightening around Thabang Moroe and Cricket South Africa’s hierarchy

At a special sitting of the Gauteng Cricket Board on Thursday night, the organisation called on the CSA board and CEO, Thabang Moroe, to resign. They proposed an interim board to replace the existing board. Gauteng president Jack Madiseng, who is a close ally of Moroe’s and who is a member of the CSA board, did not attend the Gauteng meeting.

The Gauteng board’s decision has been supported by the boards of the Western Province, Eastern Province, Northern Cape, North West, KwaZulu-Natal and South Western Districts.

The board of the South African Cricketers’ Association (Saca), the players’ trade union, will meet on Friday and indications are that they will make a similar call. The floor has fallen from under Moroe and the CSA board. They are all beyond the point of no return.

On Thursday morning Pietermaritzburg-based Willowton group, which manufactures Sunfoil cooking oil and is a long-standing CSA sponsor, called for the board to resign.

“During our tenure as headline sponsor to the international test series and four-day domestic series, we valued the relationships that were created with past and current players, that were both active in the game and administration,” a statement from Willowton read.

“Their passion for the game of cricket and good governance created an environment that allowed the national team and fellow South Africans to focus on the game out on the pitch and not the side games that are so prevalent today.

“These same passionate individuals have been cast out of the organisation and suspended without real cause or substantiation.”

Willowton demanded the following:

• Immediate resignation of the CEO of Cricket South Africa;


• Immediate resignation of the President of Cricket South Africa;


• Immediate reinstatement of the three suspended Cricket South Africa officials;


• Immediate reappointment of the two board members who have resigned;


• Immediate appointment of a lead independent director; and


• Immediate independent audit and review to be conducted on Cricket South Africa.

• Moroe’s blaming communications head Thami Mthembu for miscommunication or non-effective communication with the media when it was Moroe who was ultimately responsible for such communication;


• CSA not paying the SA Cricketer’s Association (Saca) a contractual amount in terms of a key stakeholder contract and the blame therefore was placed with the three suspended officials (COO Naasei Appiah, sales and sponsorship head Clive Eksteen and acting director of cricket Corrie van Zyl) despite the contract being signed by Moroe;


• Several resignations in the CSA office due to what they say is a legally toxic environment;


• Widespread credit card abuse in the office;


• Hastily organising a press conference this week then cancelling it at the last minute;


• Very selective communication with Saca and a failure to engage them in terms of the CSA collective agreement with Saca;


• The mishandling of the director of cricket issue, and


• Bringing CSA into disrepute.