Johannesburg — Mark Boucher’s hearing over charges of “gross misconduct” made by Cricket South Africa will be held from May 16 to 20 this year.
Adv. Terry Motau SC, the chair of the disciplinary agreed to Boucher’s request for the hearing to occur after all of the South African men’s team’s fixtures for the season have been concluded.
Boucher’s legal representatives met with Motau on January 26 to outline the timetable for the hearings.
Cricket SA, which handed Boucher a seven page charge sheet two weeks ago, had wanted the hearing to take place in the second week of March. Cricket SA had argued “for expediency and a speedy commencement and finalisation of the proceedings, given that some of the allegations occurred some time ago.”
However with the Proteas only returning from New Zealand, where they will play two Tests, in the first week of March, and with preparation for the three match One-Day series with Bangladesh, which South Africa is hosting from March 18, the hearings would have proved hugely disruptive to the national team’s preparation.
Boucher told Motau that he intended to call some of the Proteas players to testify on his behalf.
Cricket SA is seeking to dismiss Boucher as the Proteas head coach with the charges of “gross misconduct,” stemming from the findings and recommendations of the Social Justice and Nation Building hearings, related to Paul Adams.
In addition, further charges include Boucher’s failure in dealing with the Black Lives Matter issues in a more prudent manner and his lack of support for former assistant coach Enoch Nkwe.
Adams testified before the SJN last year that Boucher was one of a group of teammates that called him ‘brown shit,’ in a song sung in the South African changeroom during a tour to England in 1998. Cricket SA described Boucher’s behaviour as “”unbecoming of an employee in your position.”
Cricket SA claimed that Boucher’s role caused division among the players, alienating many in the way that the Proteas dealt with the Black Lives Matter topic. “When dealing with the BlackLivesMatter issue and the question of "taking the knee", you allegedly dealt with the white players’ concerns and requested that the team manager (who is black) deal with the black players’ concerns.”
The Proteas have only recently started taking the knee before matches following a directive from Cricket SA’s Board. The players had previously engaged in a mish-mash of initiatives that included raising a fist before a Test match with Sri Lanka and then during the West Indies tour last year, some players knelt while the majority of white players stood, some with their fists raised.
Regarding Nkwe, Cricket SA’s charge sheet criticised Boucher’s man management.
“You allegedly did not formalise any documented "roles and responsibilities" or meaningful KPIs for the Assistant Coach, Mr Nkwe; you allegedly did not provide any specific or sufficiently specific and defined role for Mr Nkwe and no "personal development plans" were documented or implemented for Mr Nkwe; and you allegedly treated Mr Nkwe in a manner unbecoming of a leader in your position,” the charge sheet read.
Motau directed both CSA and Boucher’s legal teams to meet before the formal hearings in order to narrow disputes, agree on the exchange of documents and to indicate the estimated duration of the hearing.