Sports Minister Nathi has informed Cricket SA’s Members Council and the Interim Board that he will be invoking section 13 of the National Sports and Recreation Act that will remove recognition of CSA as the ruling authority for cricket in the country.
“I have decided to invoke my powers under the Act and I hereby notify you that I have done so in accordance with s13 (5)(i)-(iii) by defunding CSA and derecognising CSA and I will cause this to be published in the Government Gazette in due course at the earliest opportunity,” Mthethwa wrote at the end of a five page letter.
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The letter, addressed to Interim Board chair, Dr Stavros Nicolaou and CSA’s acting president Rihan Richards, was sent on Thursday evening.
While the halting of funding from the government won’t have much material affect on CSA, the removal of recognition, will have a profound effect on the national teams - the Proteas - which will no longer be recognised as the representative team of South Africa.
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He concluded the letter, by stating he’d be informing the ICC about his decision and the reasons for taking them at the earliest opportunity.
Mthethwa’s letter spelt out in great detail the many steps he has taken to try and resolve the administrative crisis at CSA since appointing an Interim Board in October last year. He again re-emphasised the need for CSA to implement a Memorandum of Incorporation that will ensure a new board of directors made up of a majority of independent, with a independent chair.
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He also highlighted how he tried to have the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, resolve the problems at CSA, but that on two occasions they referred the issue back to him - first last September as it related to the Fundudzi forensic report and in February this year, when it withdrew from the process related to the drawing up of the new MOI.
Richards, acknowledged receiving the letter, saying there were various actions CSA could take, but he did not elaborate on what those would be.