CSA MESS
Clive Eksteen was also a former cricketer who played seven Tests and six ODIs between November 1991 and February 2000 © Getty
Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Sunday they had sacked Clive Eksteen, their head of sales and sponsor relations. In October Eksteen was among the first of what became, by December, seven suspended senior staff members.
A release said “a lengthy disciplinary process” ended with the presiding officer finding Eksteen, a left-arm spinner who played seven Tests and six ODIs between November 1991 and February 2000, “guilty of transgressions of a serious nature and his relationship and employment with CSA has therefore been summarily terminated (summary dismissal) with immediate effect”.
On October 30 CSA said they had suspended Eksteen, then interim director of cricket Corrie van Zyl and chief operating officer Naasei Appiah after the organisation had “recently become aware of an unfortunate situation involving players and player contracts, through player intermediary the South African Cricketers Association (SACA) in which speculation and indeed allegations of dereliction were levelled against CSA, following alleged non-payment of player fees, stemming from the Mzansi Super League (MSL) arrangement, in 2018”.
That followed SACA lodging a formal dispute against CSA because they had failed to pay the players the agreed amount of USD160,000, at the prevailing exchange rate, for the use of their commercial rights during the previous year’s MSL. The bill was settled only 10 days before the start of the 2019 edition of the tournament.
SACA smelled a rat. “We are very surprised that Naasei Appiah, Corrie van Zyl and Clive Eksteen have been suspended in relation to allegations surrounding CSA’s non-compliance with the 2018 MSL commercial agreement,” then chief executive Tony Irish was quoted as saying in a release on October 31. “SACA didn’t deal with Appiah on this issue and in its dealings with Van Zyl and Eksteen over many months they both expressed a strong desire to resolve the payment issue, but it eventually became clear that higher approval to do so was necessary.”
That approval, SACA’s release suggested, was in the purview of chief executive Thabang Moroe: “We think it’s highly unlikely that [Moroe] would not have been aware of this ongoing issue. He was undoubtedly aware of payment obligations as he had signed the agreement.”
CSA’s release the day before had quoted Moroe as saying: “CSA wants to reassure all cricket fans and all cricket stakeholders that our organisation and indeed our staff adhere to the highest ethical standards in all our dealings and that consistency and accountability remains uppermost in all our processes and procedures. It is our expectation that all our staff members, including third-party stakeholders who are associated with the CSA brand should protect the reputation of CSA and the sport of cricket at all times.”
On December 6 CSA said Moroe himself had been put on “precautionary suspension with pay… on allegations of misconduct, pending further investigations”. That followed “reports received by the social and ethics committee and the audit and risk committee of the board related to possible failure of controls in the organisation” and prompted “a forensic audit of critical aspects of the business and the conduct of management related to such aspects [that] shall be conducted by an independent forensic team”.
Van Zyl has since returned to work under director of cricket Graeme Smith and Appiah is appealing a guilty verdict. But, more than six months after he was suspended, Moroe’s fate remains undecided. Sunday’s release promised progress: “CSA assures all stakeholders that the rest of the outstanding disciplinary cases will also be concluded soon, so that the situation around these matters can soon be stabilised.”
Veterans of South African cricket’s struggles with CSA won’t believe that until they see it.
© Fame Dubai
