And then there were eight.
Jack Madiseng became the fourth member of Cricket South Africa’s Board of Directors to tender his resignation on Wednesday night. He is the first non-independent director to do so following the resignations last week of independent members; Shirley Zinn, Mohammed Iqbal Khan and Dawn Mokhobo.
Madiseng left himself with no option; maybe he did want to be seen as a ‘good guy’, maybe he felt guilty for his part in throwing his good pal Thabang Moroe under the bus or maybe there were other, more powerful factors at work. It doesn’t matter.
Madiseng had left himself in a difficult spot with his November 29 letter to Cricket SA president Chris Nenzani and the body’s vice-president Beresford Williams in which Madiseng admonished the pair for their failure to take responsibility for CSA’s woes and for leaving Moroe to take - as Madiseng put it - all the “klaps,” from the public and the players union, the SA Cricketers Association.
At least Madiseng has in some way seen the light, but Donovan May, another non-independent director gave us all a pretty good look at how the remaining board members are still very much in a fog. May, the president of Eastern Province cricket, made some bold pronouncements as part of an interview with TimesLIVE.co.za this week.
“I am in full support of the board. I find nothing wrong with the board at all and I actually think that they have been doing a good job,” said May, oblivious to the enormous debt the organisation is dealing with or the fact that CSA’s relationship with the players is virtually non-existent or that the Proteas’ headline sponsor walked away last week.
“The board is united and the Members Council (the provincial presidents) has given us the green light, as you heard the president say at our AGM at the weekend. It is the media which is driving this thing (calls for the removal of the board). It is the media that is crucifying us.” One thing, I’m not sure which meeting May was at last weekend, but it wasn’t the AGM, that took place back in September.
“Saca have no right to call for the removal of the CSA board. The only people or body that can remove the CSA board is the Members Council, not the public and certainly not the media,” said May.
Based on those remarks, do you think May cares about Eastern Province or South African cricket? Do you think May cares about the people who play cricket? Does he care about the people who watch cricket? Or, does he only care about himself, the Members Council and his seven other mates steadfastly holding onto their positions as Directors?
That’s the kind of leadership that Cricket SA has had over the last few years. Is it any wonder the sport in this country finds itself in the mess it’s currently in when the likes of Donovan May can rise to be a director?
@shockerhess
The Star
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