CAPE TOWN – Beleaguered Cricket South Africa chief executive officer Thabang Moroe has buckled under pressure and apologised for the debacle over the weekend which saw five journalists banned from covering Mzansi Super League matches.
IOL’s Stuart Hess and four other journalists from Johannesburg-based publications had their CSA accreditations revoked by the local game’s governing body.
On Tuesday afternoon, CSA issued a statement in which Moroe apologised “unreservedly”.
But, the weekend’s saga appears to have already caused some damage as CSA board member Shirley Zinn tendered her resignation, citing the body’s failute to adhere to good corporate governance standards.
Moroe and CSA president Chris Nenzani were due to address a press conference at 6pm on Tuesday, but that has now been rescheduled to Saturday afternoon.
CSA Statement in full:
2019 has been a challenging year for Cricket South Africa. As CEO of CSA, it is my responsibility to articulate solutions for the way forward and to take you, our stakeholders, into my confidence, in order to rebuild trust in brand Cricket South Africa. To this end, I address this to the Board of CSA, our Members, our Partners and Sponsors, SANEF, and the many journalists, and the Fans of the incredible sport of cricket.
I unreservedly apologise on behalf of Cricket South Africa for the erroneous process that led to journalists having accreditation revoked. I am proud to live in a free and fair South Africa where each and every one of us has the ability to compliment and criticise any organisation, including my own for my and/or my team’s efforts. Too many people have made the ultimate sacrifice for the privilege of free speech and I’d like to apologise to SANEF and all of your members for any harm that was caused during our accreditation error in judgement.
We encourage transparent reporting of the highs and lows of Cricket South Africa and every South African institution - public or private.
I would also like to apologise to our sponsors for the ambiguity of the CSA tweet yesterday where we thanked our sponsors for their support - it wasn’t our intention for that tweet to infer support for the accreditation blunder but instead to thank them for our longstanding partnerships – so Standard Bank, Momentum, KFC, Sunfoil, New Balance, Castle Lager, Ram, Coca-Cola, Powerade, and our numerous supplier partners – my apologies to you.
It is understandable that my job as CEO is always under the microscope. It’s not just for ethical reasons but for my love of cricket that I adhere to due process, especially during uncomfortable moments. This is evident with the ways in which we are working through a formal process in terms of our recent suspensions, and there seems to be consternation about the appointment of our new Director of Cricket role.
What has become apparent and a learning point for us as an organisation, is the absolute need for more dialogue with our stakeholders. To this end, I commit to ensure that the outflow of communications from my organisation is far more frequent and transparent that has happened in the past. We owe this to our Board of CSA, our Members, our Partners and Sponsors, SANEF, journalists, and the Fans of South African cricket.
As a start to this new transparent relationship, I can advise you that the CSA Board is meeting for a special sitting, this Saturday. This will be immediately followed by a media conference to communicate the outcomes and next steps to South Africa via the media, including but not limited to the Director of Cricket role, team selection processes for the England tour, and all other Cricket South Africa issues relevant to the South African public.
I look forward to new levels of engagement.
Thank you
T. Moroe
CEO Cricket South Africa