So the Fundudzi forensic audit report has been published. Sort of. Bits and pieces carefully selected by Cricket SA’s lawyers that heavily implicate former CEO Thabang Moroe and justify his sacking.
At Cricket SA’s 2019 annual general meeting, the president, Chris Nenzani, was asked why Moroe had been given a range of sweeping powers without apparent board oversight. Normally a calm man, he became visibly agitated and replied: “The kind of responsibility given to the CEO and his management comes with a high level of accountability.”
There was not a single sign of that accountability in the redacted cut-and-paste job we were given on Monday. Moroe, clearly, was a loose-cannon nightmare. He appointed a head of human resources (HR) without following any HR processes — and she didn’t possess the “minimum qualifications” for the job.
He appointed “service provider X” at a cost of nearly R3.5m, without following due tender procedure — and Fundudzi could find no evidence of any service being provided.
He handed over all of the Mzansi Super League’s commercial rights to a Singapore-based group, Global Sports Commerce, without any due diligence being conducted or the agreed bank guarantee being paid.
Moroe treated the players and their union, the SA Cricketers Association, with disdain and contempt. There are endless mentions of his lack of care, skill, diligence and good faith. There are mentions of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act of 1998, mentions of fraud, mismanagement and illegal activity, not just concerning Moroe.
But nowhere is there a mention of the people who appointed Moroe, their failure to hold him accountable or to take responsibility for what he did. Nowhere.
A former provincial president and members council representative from the good old days of the mid-2000s said: “It’s crap. You can’t issue a ‘redacted summary report’. They’re just throwing Thabang under the bus and hoping everyone else will just go away. Meantime, the poison in the board remains.”
One man who was comfortably prepared to comment yesterday was former COO Nassei Appiah, who is mentioned several times as a signatory on Moroe’s irregular contracts and deals including the mysterious “service provider X”.
“I’m not sure who this service provider is, what the context of the allegation is. I believe the full report needs to be made available in order for me to answer to the allegations,” Appiah said.
“With regards to the other allegations, my response is simple and straightforward. I was charged with the same allegations and we all know that the guilty findings were overturned on appeal by an independent senior counsel appointed by Cricket SA,” Appiah said.
But he was only just warming up. He had some questions of his own.
“Who commissioned the report? Has the one who commissioned the report seen it in its entirety and without any restrictions? Who is blocking its release? Organisations are made up of individuals. Who are these individuals? Why are they blocking its release?
“If, as per Bowman, they are blocking its release to prevent exposure to litigation, which individuals have exposed Cricket SA to litigation? Why is Cricket SA not confident about the litigation? What have they done so wrong that requires sacrificing the truth at the altar of expediency? Basically, what Bowman is saying is that, if the truth is known, Cricket SA could be in real sh*t, so let the truth be covered up. Is that the best way public funds can be used?” Appiah asked.
While an alcohol expenditure of R64,830 on his Cricket SA credit card was attributed to Moroe, Appiah was said to have spent an eye-popping R201,372. Fundudzi made it look like one hell of a party.
“It’s the total alcohol spend over a period of 48 months and relates to a number of events locally and overseas,” Appiah said.
Scrolling through the carefully sliced and diced report, it is hard to wonder whether the occasional line slipped through the Bowmans editorial team by mistake. Like “CSA had no effective internal audit unit for the last four years”. What? Blame it on Moroe — even though he was only there for three years.
Nenzani was always keen on attributing lengthy delays to the organisation assiduously following “due process”. It would be amusing if it wasn’t so sad and so serious. He promised he would explain his sudden resignation, but that hasn’t materialised, either.
Moroe is said to have cost Cricket SA R565,000 in unnecessary legal fees for improperly exercising “step-in” rights to take control of the Western Province Cricket Association. Disciplinary action was rightly recommended against him.
In September, Cricket SA independent director Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw spent R521,000 on a full-page newspaper advertisement — without authority. She appeared before the social and ethics committee 13 days ago but, despite asking repeatedly, it has been impossible to extract a response from Cricket SA about the outcome.
Yesterday was all about Cricket SA being seen to be doing something because the minister of sport gave them a deadline of today.
It was a sham, an exercise in deception that only fools and small children may have fallen for. They changed their mind about releasing the report because, they said, it was … “in the interests of cricket and to mend relationships”. Please.
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