Jealousy and infighting alive and well at Cricket SA

Cricket SA’s muchdelayed annual general meeting finally took place on Saturday and there was more than enough evidence to suggest the factionalism and politicking that has beset the organisation for so long is alive and thriving.

The majority of the members council (MC) voted against adopting the memorandum of incorporation (MOI), which incorporates a majority of independent directors on the new board, but eventually agreed to it. They all remain in situ and did everything possible to retain their power.

The independent nominations committee also announced the names of the eight independent directors they chose from an original list of 290. It included former Cricket SA president Norman Arendse. The MC objected to his appointment, so the head of the nominations committee, Muhammad Seedat, withdrew it and promised to review the appointment with the other five members of the panel.

On Monday the “review” concluded that Arendse was indeed their appointment and they were sticking with him. The MOI clearly stipulates that neither the interim board nor the MC can influence the appointment of the independents, yet it appeared that Rihan Richards, who had his “acting” status as Cricket SA president upgraded, had not read the relevant paragraph.

Richards confirmed that objections to Arendse’s appointment were based on him having been the lead independent director at Cricket SA when the now sacked and disgraced former CEO, Thabang Moroe, was appointed and the ill-fated Global League was crashing and burning. And that Arendse wrote a passionate open letter to the board in 2020 urging them to resign while sponsors were leaving the game. Richards’s implication was that Arendse was responsible and the nonindependents, who were in the majority, were innocent.

Seedat, a member of the Institute of Directors SA, was joined by two business professionals from the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Legal Practice Council and three solid “cricket people” in Enver Mall, former president Ray Mali and former Proteas fast bowler David Terbrugge, now a successful businessman. They interviewed Arendse twice and Seedat yesterday confirmed he was their choice.

Seedat said once they were satisfied about Arendse’s suitability to be an independent director, he was included on the list of appointees. However, unless they were “advised of any lawful impediment” to his appointment, “we do not believe we are in a position to change our original decision”.

Arendse is a controversial figure, having ruffled many feathers not only at Cricket SA but also at the SA Football Association and SA Rugby where he held various positions. He can be heavy-handed when a more reserved approach is required, but there is no doubt that he cares about cricket.

“The new board has much work to do and looking at its composition [even with me on it], it’s light on hard-core cricket administration experience,” he said on Monday while confirming that he had intended to insist on his appointment even if the nominations committee failed to ratify it.

“The resentment of the MC will linger,” he said.

Of equal interest was the appointment of the five nonindependent directors who voted for themselves from within the MC. The first four names on the ballot sheet were all confirmed “no” men during the process of accepting the new MOI. None of them cared for the governance the new constitution would provide.

There was a tie for the fifth place between Central Gauteng Lions president Anne Vilas and Border president Simphiwe Ndzundzu that required a second round of voting. Vilas, having spoken and voted consistently in favour of the new MOI, didn’t stand a chance. Never mind that she would have been only the second woman on the board, she would have provided reason and balance.

The five non-independent directors thus include the presidents of Border, Limpopo (John Mogodi) and Mpumalanga (Craig Nel), the most dysfunctional province and the two least relevant in the big picture of domestic cricket. Interestingly, Richards and his vice-president, Donovan May, are not on the board but they also voted against the changes to the constitution or abstained from voting. They will add their influence in the boardroom.

Former Proteas opening batsman Andrew Hudson is among the independent directors and there are more committed, passionate cricket people and only a couple of politically inclined members who may be susceptible to “influence”. As has been pointed out numerous times in this column, the adoption of a new constitution and a majority independent board was never going to resolve Cricket SA’s problems or put an end to the quest for power, privilege and perks. But it is a start.