CSA is pulling a Safa

The cricket season hasn’t started as well as Gary Kirsten would have hoped. Rusty South Africa were outplayed by Australia at Newlands, and while I belong to the school of thought that doesn’t care about Twenty20, there are many others who do. The Proteas would have had another opportunity to put their first mark in the “win” column at the Wanderers on Sunday.

On Saturday however, Cricket South Africa (CSA) would have held their second meeting dedicated to dismissing president Mtutuzeli Nyoka. With six of CSA’s 11 affiliates saying they would back the motion of no-confidence against Nyoka, it was with little surprise that the media were told by Nyoka that he wouldn’t bother going to the meeting. Why should he if the outcome is pre-determined?

CSA will say he brought the organisation into disrepute. The exact opposite can be said for the organisation itself. The most likely reason Nyoka is being targeted is because he wanted an independent investigation into the bonus scandal currently afflicting the organisation. Gerald Majola and his companions on the CSA board have decided to circle the wagons, and oust the most senior official not a member of their cabal.

Nyoka said: “There are thousands and thousands of people in this country who care about cricket and don’t want to take a cent from the game. From an administrative side there is a lot of work to be done to restore the trust of the public. A lot of serious damage has been done to the leadership’s reputation.”

I couldn’t agree more. This whole situation has been brought even sharper into focus after the Eastern Province Cricket Board (EPCB), which in its wisdom and lunacy decided to nominate Rajan Moodaley for the presidency of the EPCB. The fact that Moodaley is a convicted fraudster seems to have changed nothing, with Ray Mali, the head of CSA’s nominations committee saying, “I see nothing wrong with the nomination of Moodaley.”

It has been sometime since a cuss word has been used on this blog, but now seems the appropriate time to shatter the “serenity”, as Darryl Kerrigan says in the Australian film The Castle. So what the fuck is going on at Cricket South Africa?

With all this nonsense it is no surprise that the Proteas have struggled to attract sponsors for this summer, with CSA giving away the naming rights for the T20 games to a charity. They might say it was because they wanted to do a good deed, and it is always great when noble causes benefit from the exposure given by international sport, but were there any takers? Until someone says so, the public will draw its own conclusions.

The South African Football Association (Safa) has in the past set the bar for stupidity and incompetence for sports administrators in this country. This was once again shown after the whole qualifying fiasco surrounding next year’s African Cup of Nations (how could they not know?) last week. Even Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune’s pathetic behaviour on the picth typified the whole situation.

While Safa are still the reigning champions of stupidity within the top tier of South Africa’s sporting echelons, CSA are beginning to give them a run for their money.

No good deed goes unpunished. I’m going to watch rugby now.