Cricket South Africa has reiterated its intention to keep the independent forensic report private, despite growing calls from the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee to view the document.
CSA and Sascoc held a joint press conference on Thursday where they told the media that they will continue engagement to solve the current and worrying state of affairs at the cricketing governing body.
One key issue that has come to the forefront of concern, is the disclosure of the forensic report from CSA’s side.
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The document is believed to more than 450 pages longs and is the end result of a seven-month investigation into the controversial operations at CSA.
In a statement, released on Thursday evening, CSA made it clear that the forensic report was never drafted for public viewing.
‘To ensure that the management of the forensic report and the implementation of the recommendations and findings subscribes to the principle of fairness, as well as ensuring that such management and implementation is done in the best interests of CSA, the organisation sought a legal opinion from Bowmans Attorneys on the distribution of the forensic report,’ read the release from CSA.
Only individuals from CSA’s Members Council have the right to view a section of the report at either the Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban offices of Bowmans, if they sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Last week Sascoc’s acting president Aleck Skhosana criticised CSA’s acting president Beresford Williams in a letter for breaking his promise by not allowing Sascoc board members the right to view the report.
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Non-independent director of the CSA board, John Mogodi, said in Thursday’s statement that the distribution of the forensic report could lead to serious governance issues.
‘The distribution of the report may well frustrate the very purpose for which the forensic report was commissioned. 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,
‘In so far as the provision of access to the forensic report is concerned, we, the Members Council, fully understand SASCOC’s frustration for not being provided unrestricted access to a copy of the forensic report. However, as stated at today’s press briefing, the distribution of the forensic report comes with major potential legal implications. We will therefore be having a separate discussion with SASCOC to resolve the issues pertaining to the report in the interim, by allowing Bowmans to present the summary of the findings to the relevant SASCOC officials,’ he explained.
