The lawyers of suspended Cricket SA (CSA) chief executive Gerald Majola have asked for his disciplinary hearing to be held in public.
“This whole matter has been widely reported and it's in the public interest,” Pumezo David, a director at Knowles Husain Lindsay Inc Attorneys, said on Tuesday.
“The Nicholson Inquiry was held in public and I see no reason why the hearing should not be held in public as well,” he said.
The request had been made in writing to the CSA's legal representatives.
David said Majola was not trying to delay the process after he failed to have the hearing's independent chairman John Myburgh removed.
Nicholas Preston, an associate at Glyn Marais - CSA's lawyers - told Business Day on Monday it expected further possible delays in the process after Majola's objection was turned down.
“There is usually a pre-hearing conference before something like this to get certain details out the way and make the process run smoother,” David said.
“We haven't had that conference, so this doesn't seem like people who want to move things along.”
David, who said Majola's legal team had not yet seen documents ahead of the hearing, believed CSA was optimistic in predicting its start.
“We don't know when it's going to start,” he said.
“Initially, when they said the hearing would start by the end of May - that's this Friday - I thought it was ambitious. It was never going to happen.”
David said in a statement earlier that Majola's suspension was “procedurally and substantively” unlawful.
“In order to have these proceedings finalised speedily, our client elected not to challenge his suspension in court,” he said.
“It therefore cannot be true that his intentions are to delay the disciplinary proceedings.
“On the contrary, our client is anxious to have this matter finalised.” Majola was suspended in March after R4.7 million in bonuses was paid to CSA staff without clearance from the board or the remuneration committee.
David said Majola and his team were “confident” of a favourable outcome. - Sapa