Cricket South Africa (CSA) has said it has no intention of making the forensic report public, in response to the demand of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), reasoning that "it may well frustrate the very purpose" of the report.
This reply came in the form of press release on Thursday (September 17) after the joint media interaction by CSA and SASCOC where both the organisations maintained that they are willing to work together. However, they would not budge in for each other's request. This is in the aftermath of the SASCOC's take over of CSA last week.
The CSA re-emphasised its position that the forensic report was commissioned as an internal document, and was never intended for public release. The board had sought the legal opinion from Bowmans Attorneys on the ways to move forward in this issue. It is understood if the document is made public significant damage and/or harm could be done to CSA for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, any current or future legal and other proceedings in relation to matters dealt with in the report, and that CSA would likely be prejudiced.
John Mogodi, the president of Limpopo Impala Cricket and a non-independent director to the Board of CSA, said that the very purpose of the report would be defeated if the document was made public.
"It is therefore important to understand that the contents of the report may also lead to litigation. In addition, there are also certain aspects of the forensic report which require further investigation,” he added.
The CSA has named the Bowmans Attorneys to help the independent Audit and Risk Committee members to create a legal roadmap going forward in addressing and implementing the findings and recommendations of the report. Mogodi also said that the CSA would be having a separate discussion with SASCOC to resolve the issues about the report for time being, by allowing Bowmans to present the summary of the findings to the relevant SASCOC officials.
Meanwhile, CSA has proposed that they would provide full access of the report to the Chair of SASCOC, who might be a part of the Independent Directors tasked with the implementation of the recommendations from the report, provided they sign a non-disclosure agreement beforehand.
The SASCOC acting president Aleck Skhosana, however, felt that it is irrational and unreasonable to deny access to the forensic report.
"No reasonable person can effectively enquire into the affairs of CSA without having full access to the report, and without the assistance of legal and or forensic experts. None of us have investigative and forensic expertise and legal expertise. These things must be done by outside people," he said in the press conference.
"We are not interested in running the administration of cricket. We don't know anything about cricket. It must be run by the people who understand cricket, who have got passion and bona fides in terms of cricket administration."
He said that intention is put a task team, that is independent of CSA's members' council, in place to oversee them.
"Should they fail to do so, then SASCOC will have no alternative to take appropriate measures to ensure compliance," he concluded.
The member council of the board, in the press release, stated that the CSA is fully committed to cooperating with SASCOC and the task team, which is being appointed by the SASCOC.
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