The way forward for Cricket SA: Moroe must go
The anatomy of a Cricket SA meltdown: it began with criticism and straight-up reporting; was followed by revoking accreditations; a leaked newspaper story intended to distract; anger, denial, lies and a radio appearance so horrendous and naïve it will be used by public relations lecturers as a case study on how quickly bullshit can collapse into buffoonery.
There were also retractions, sponsors having stern words, personal apologies, a public apology, a cancelled press conference, a suspension and resignations.
Except that the wrong people resigned. The calls for Chris Nenzani and Thabang Moroe, the president and CEO of Cricket SA, to do the right thing have gone from strident to deafening. There has been growing disquiet about the reign of Moroe for some time. Stories of a climate of fear, of confused operating and business practices at Cricket SA headquarters in Melrose, of playing fast, free and fancy with standards of governance abound in cricket circles.
Moroe, who slipped into the CEO role on an acting basis after Haroon Lorgat lost his way over the T20 Global series, has been growing his power base. The board has abdicated much of its responsibility to Moroe, particularly with regard to the national team.
At Cricket SA they believe the players belong to them. Except the players aren’t all that keen to be Cricket SA’s “very own” and the SA Cricketers’ Association is up for a barney.
Moroe is their target. His suspension of interim director of cricket Corrie van Zyl‚ sponsor and sales manager Clive Eksteen, and COO Naasei Appiah on trumped-up charges that they had not dealt with a payment issue over the Mzansi Super League 2018 was another way for him to centralise power in his office. He now essentially has no exco to worry about.
One executive intimately involved with cricket WhatsApped me on Tuesday: “Someone should ask [Moroe] what he actually does if he has no dealings and/or is not at fault with what has gone on in media, cricket operations, finance and commercial, all four areas where someone else is getting blamed. The CEO has to go.”
That has been the singular call this week. Moroe has to go. His actions over the accreditation saga have been that of a megalomaniac and Trumpesque in their relationship with the truth and responsibility.
It was a mess of lies. The Star’s Stuart Hess first warned me his accreditation may have been cancelled on Saturday morning. He confirmed it on Sunday when he tried to get into the Wanderers.
Moroe told eNCA that the accreditations of five journalists had been revoked. His new head of media and communications, Thamie Mthembu, claimed it was a glitch at the Wanderers.
Strange, though, that an e-mail was sent to the ticket staff at Newlands which stated the accreditations had been revoked, bypassing union presidents. When Mthembu tried to tell a Western Province Cricket Association executive he knew nothing about it, he backtracked when shown his name on the e-mail.
Then Moroe went on Radio 702 on Monday morning, when he finally hung up after having been kicked into a corner, dragged back out into the light and left to whimper silently.
Full pass-the-buck mode was engaged. It wasn’t me. I wanted to speak to the journalists. I wasn’t properly informed. Quick. Find a scapegoat. The winner is yet to be formally announced.
A press conference planned for Tuesday was abruptly cancelled. It is not a huge jump to speculate Moroe and Nenzani suddenly realised how much of a storm had built up and needed time to work on their strategy. The pressure increased. Two independent directors resigned and slated the board and Moroe. Former Cricket SA CEOs Lorgat and Ali Bacher said Moroe had to resign.
On Wednesday the campaign to save Moroe was ramped up with an e-mail that Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina, Zuma propagandist and a member of the NeverRamaphosa camp, would have been proud of. Gauteng Cricket Board (GCB) president Jack Madiseng wrote to Nenzani and deputy president Beresford Williams, accusing them of allowing Moroe to take all the “klaps and punches”. His take is that it is the board’s fault and not the CEO, who it just so happens, was president of the GCB. It’s also just a coincidence that Madiseng is being groomed to take over as Cricket SA president when Nenzani’s extended reign finally ends.
Madiseng is seeking to deflect any blame through attack and shouting. He knows there are board members who are wavering and could call for Moroe to go at their meeting tomorrow. Moroe is fighting for his position, but his actions this weekend, the warnings from sponsors and the reaction from the public may be too much.
In June, after SA had exited the World Cup bewildered and embarrassed, Nenzani said: “Heads will roll.” Here’s hoping it will be the right heads.