“I won’t be chased by lawyers before my term ends, as has been the case with a few of my predecessors.” – Pholetsi Moseki, CSA chief executive
Telford Vice | Cape Town
WHAT will be 1,646 days of uncertainty, anxiety and suspicion that has damaged South African cricket in ways known and unknown are set to start ending on April 1, and that’s no joke. Instead, it’s a punchline: CSA’s announcement on Wednesday that Pholetsi Moseki will, from the beginning of next month, be the organisation’s chief executive for the next five years is an important signal that the game has reopened for business.
“The journey ahead is going to be challenging and tough, but I work with a bunch of dedicated people,” Moseki told a press conference. “This is a calling for them, not a job. I do hope that in five years’ time there’ll be a farewell party for me that’s attended by everyone. I won’t be chased by lawyers before my term ends, as has been the case with a few of my predecessors.”
That was a nod to South African cricket’s serial bouts of bad leadership. The most recent and worst of them started on September 28, 2017 — 1,646 days before April 1 this year — when Thabang Moroe took over as chief executive in an acting capacity in the wake of Haroon Lorgat’s sudden departure.
Moroe was appointed permanently in July 2018. By the time he was suspended in December 2019 — he was fired in August 2020 — cricket in South Africa had been dragged to the brink of ruin. Sponsors had walked away in disgust, the suits’ relationship with the players had dwindled to sniping between opposing lawyers, and critical journalists had been targetted for retributive action. Most importantly, the public had lost belief in CSA’s ability to run the game.
Moseki knew reconstructing those bridges would be his top priority: “Breaking trust is very easy but building it takes a very long time. There have been numerous challenges that resulted in a lot of our stakeholders losing faith and trust in the organisation. We know it won’t be easy. Me being confirmed as the chief executive doesn’t necessarily mean there’ll be trust in the system. It’s going to be something we need to work on. We want to walk that path so that people can see we’re not just talking it.”
The pilgrimage to propriety and prosperity was also uppermost for CSA chair Lawson Naidoo, who said: “It’s often said that it’s the journey that teaches us a lot about the destination we’re headed for. In the case of CSA we’re on the journey of fixing cricket from the ground up, and of making progress in bringing about renewal and growth in the sport. The path to the destination has been clearly signposted now, as we move forward to ensure that cricket becomes an inclusive game of winners that can make all South Africans proud.
“A key component of this is ensuring that the foundation is built strongly and permeates the entire organisation, that we have the right leadership in place — who have the passion, courage and vision to implement the change that is necessary.”
The most urgent matter on the new chief executive’s diary is surely to sign major sponsors. That is unlikely to happen until CSA resolves the slew of key positions that are currently filled in an acting capacity. The most important of them has now been settled. What will being in the role formally do for Moseki?
“The major change would be the level of certainty,” he said. “Being an acting incumbent can be challenging. So having that level of certainty is important. But everything else remains the same because the challenges are the same, and I am aware of that.
“The company couldn’t advertise executive vacancies until the chief executive’s position was filled. CSA has been operating with two-thirds of its executive committee either having been suspended or dismissed over the last 18 months or so. But we hope to go to the market in a day or two to open that process.”
As things stand, CSA do not have a permanent chief financial officer, chief commercial officer, head of pathways, or head of media and communications, and the human resources manager’s position is vacant. Naidoo said an “open, competitive process” would be followed to remedy the situation.
CSA’s lifeblood connection with the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA), which ended up in the courts under Moroe, is a pressing matter because the current memorandum of understanding between the organisations expires at the end of April. Moseki said negotiations towards a new agreement had started in November: “The engagements have been going very well. Some sections have already been agreed on, and we hope to finalise it within the next few months.”
Helping the board find a new director of cricket is likely to be on Moseki’s agenda soon. It is an increasingly open secret that Graeme Smith will not seek a renewal of his contract when it expires at the end of this month.
Moseki, a chartered accountant with a corporate background, came to CSA in June 2019 as chief financial officer. He became acting chief executive — the third since Moroe was suspended — in December last year, which is why his old job is now filled by an acting incumbent.
The position was first advertised in August, but CSA told parliament in February that attempt had failed to secure a suitable candidate and that another was underway. Naidoo said the board had settled on Moseki after a “comprehensive, robust process”. Why the board kept looking past him is now moot, but it is pertinent that, except for dramatic but necessary coverage of the Social Justice and Nation Building project, he has managed to keep cricket off the front pages. For his next trick, he needs to earn CSA prominent and positive space in the business section.
But he may want to keep a lawyer or two in his contact book. Of the four administrators who have served in his position permanently, only one — Ali Bacher, the managing director from 1991 to 2000 of what was then the United Cricket Board — left amicably. Bacher’s successor, Gerald Majola, was fired for his role in the 2009 IPL undeclared bonuses scandal, and Lorgat was pushed out by the faction loyal to Moroe, whose tenure came to its own sticky end. Along the way, four others have acted in the role — one of them, Jacques Faul, twice.
So if, five years from now, Moseki is still CSA’s chief executive, if obstacles aren’t being put in the game’s way in a plot to get rid of him, if cricket knows where its next paycheque is coming from, if the players are content, if the game stays mostly on the back pages, and if the cricketminded public don’t boo him when they see him, there will indeed be cause for celebration. Bring on that party.
First published by Cricbuzz.
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