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Cricket South Africa have “formally and unreservedly,” withdrawn
charges of gross misconduct against men’s national head coach
Mark Boucher less than a week before his disciplinary hearing was due to begin. That means they are no longer seeking his dismissal over the tentative findings of the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) report which concluded that he may have engaged in conduct that was prejudicial on the basis of race.
Boucher was facing three charges over his handling of historical and current race-based issues during his time as a national player and a coach which included his role in singing a team song
with the words “b**** s***” in it to
Paul Adams in his playing days, his handling of the Black Lives Matter movement with the current squad and his working relationship with former assistant coach
Enoch Nkwe. Because the SJN report could not make definite findings on the seriousness of these incidents, CSA “was advised by external lawyers that the appropriate formal process to follow in respect of Mr Boucher was a formal disciplinary hearing in front of an independent ombudsman.” However, CSA could find no basis to sustain the charges because of a lack of witnesses.
In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, CSA confirmed that Adams’ announcement on Sunday that he would not testify reiterated his initial statement that his testimony at the SJN was about the “overall culture,” of the national team in the early 2000s and that he did not signal out any particular players. In his oral testimony, Adams recounted the anecdote which led to him being given the nickname “b**** s****” and it was the ombudsman’s assistant Fumisa Ngqele who then asked him, “When Mark Boucher called you “b**** s***, did you address him personally?” Adams responded: “No well, I never addressed them personally. Mark was probably just one of the guys that did all that.” Adams’ written statement makes no mention of Boucher.
Further,
Boucher apologised to Adams and CSA’s lawyers have ascertained that Adams accepted the apology, which left them with no case to make against Boucher in regards to the song.
On the matter of Nkwe, the charge sheet against Boucher claimed that he had not provided “roles and responsibilities” or “meaningful key-performance indicators,” for him, did not define his role or any development plans for him and thus, “allegedly treated Mr Nkwe in a manner unbecoming of a leader in your position.” Nkwe’s unwillingness to testify meant CSA could not pursue this charge either.
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