hattrick
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South Africa - The last few weeks cricket has made the front page due to the external audit that was done on CSA financials. The story has seemed to have gone on an eternity but it seems that we are in the final stretch.
Cricket South Africa’s beleaguered chief executive Gerald Majola received nothing more than a reprimand from his board for a possible breach the Companies Act at its Annual General Meeting held in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Majola had been chided for failing to disclose bonuses he had received from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and International Cricket Council after South Africa hosted the 2009 IPL and Champions League.
In all honesty the result has not been surprising at all. I can honestly say that I expected it and expect that there will be a vote of no confidence in the President (Nyoka). Nyoka did not attend the board meeting over the weekend as it was chaired by the vice chairman AK Khan. I find the timing of that suspicious.
Neither of them are not guilty. Nyoka accused Majola of stealing money. The problem is a lack of disclosure and not following procedure.
“Gerald took our criticism very hard, but he also took it on the chin. We just want to move on from this.”
Cricket SA’s president, Mtutuzeli Nyoka, was not present due to family commitments at Friday’s board meeting nor Saturday’s annual meeting, where CSA announced profits before tax of R295, 6 million compared to the R138,8 million for the previous financial year. The final after tax profit amounted to R247,8 million.
It is understood that the hefty profits were what ultimately saved Majola from being axed as CEO, a position he has held for 10 years. “The profits of over R200-million counted in his favour,” an administrator said.
KPMG found four instances of possible irregular conduct with respect to the Companies Act and fiduciary duties of directors at the end of its forensic audit which was delivered to the board last month. That audit was tasked with looking into bonuses payments, among them R4,7-million which was paid to Majola and CSA’s senior administrative staff following the hosting of the IPL and Champions Trophy in 2009. KPMG did not pronounce on the guilt or innocence of Majola, instead recommending CSA seek advice from a Senior Counsel, which the federation did with help from Sascoc.
Among Bham’s recommendations, which weren’t outlined in CSA’s press release Saturday, was that Majola and CSA’s board of directors would go through a corporate governance course. The legal secretary, which CSA must appoint in the coming days, besides reviewing how bonuses would be paid in future would also be tasked with looking at all contracts the organisation signs in future. “The board felt we needed to strengthen our checks and balances,” said one director. “We felt we also stuffed up, that we could have done a better job on our watch.”
With all of the above in mind. The time has come for both gentleman to move on. Majola who was not the initial candidate to take over from Ali Bacher needs to be commended for securing CSA's financial future and an ensuring very profitable relations with the BCCI and with various sponsors. I am in no way saying he did nothing wrong but I believe that the public has gotten one side of this story. So get the man an exit strategy as the reputational damage that has been done to CSA is ten times the value of the monetary values claimed to have been stolen. Nyoka I suspect will also not last another term as he has lost the confidence of the board. I often think of a book I read that chronicles the life and times of Sir Donald Bradman in which he makes the point that a good administrator is one that does things behind closed doors and that is not bigger than the game. Messrs Majola and Nyoka need to the right thing and that is stop with the mud slinging and ensure that South Africa is a position to challenge England.
Disclosure: I support the national team in South Africa in good and bad times. The administrators I mention in this post, I don't know in real life. Nor have I been privy to inside information, but I am tired of this fiasco.