Africa-Press – South-Africa. Trevor Manuel acknowledged that he knows little about sports administration, but felt it was too important to pass up the opportunity not to help in the preparation of the 2027 Cricket World Cup, which South Africa will host.
The former finance minister will chair the 12-member local organising committee which was unveiled on Thursday. It will get to work ensuring the smooth running of the tournament in two years’ time.
“I’ve done many different things with my life, sports administration is not one of them. Trying to do this so late in life is a big learning experience for me. It’s a very gratifying experience,” Manuel said.
The committee includes former deputy president Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the former CEO of RMI Holdings Herman Bosman and businessman Ravi Naidoo.
Cricket SA’s members’ council is represented by Yunus Bobat and Johannes Adams, while Vuyani Jarana, one of the independent directors on CSA’s board will also join the committee.
Dr Stavros Nicolaou, who chaired the CSA board on an interim basis after the 2019 administrative collapse has also been seconded to the LOC, which Manuel is keen to get operating as soon as possible.
“We’ve tried for eight months to get this together,” he sighed. “Our job is fairly small, it is beyond the boundary. What happens within the boundary is what CSA organises; the readiness of pitches, venues… we have to make sure that the infrastructure around that runs properly, it is a big challenge.
“We have to get South Africans to take ownership of this event, if we don’t then we would have failed as an LOC.
“We must make that commitment to South Africa, to sport, to the durability of the exercise. Long after the last ball is bowled in the tournament, the question of what remains behind is a challenge, because this is a nation-building exercise,” Manuel added.
“We have seven independent nonexecutive directors, two of whom served on the LOC for 2010 — Nofamnelo Magwentshu and Ravi Naidoo. Being able to transfer those skills becomes important.”
The LOC also contains two appointees from the government, Philip October, who was nominated by the sports ministry, and Unathi Tshotwana, who was nominated by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Tshotwana was named in the Fundudzi Forensic report in 2020 as having made R3.4m from CSA for work though, beyond consultation fees, the auditors couldn’t confirm how CSA benefited from the work Tshotwana’s company, Tananati, did.
The Fundidzi report recommended that a criminal case be registered in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
On Thursday, CSA president Rihan Richards said that a case was never pursued because law firm Bowmans felt there was little chance of success. “(Bowmans) provided us with a report that said there was no basis for the original finding (by Fundudzi) and there was no reasonable chance of dealing with the matter.
“Fundudzi will always come back to haunt us. We have never drawn a line in the sand to say this is what we’ve done, this was the outcome, here’s a report,” said Richards.
Tshotwana, who attended the LOC announcement on Thursday, said he held no resentment towards CSA. “This was about Fundudzi. I’m glad the (CSA) president has spelt out that there wasn’t a strong case against me.”
The most pressing matter for the LOC is the appointment of a tournament director. Cricket SA’s CEO Pholetsi Moseki confirmed that a process to find someone to fill that role had started. “I pray that by October they will have found someone, it’s likely they will have found candidates within the next week or two.”
Local Organising Committee for 2027 Cricket World Cup:
Trevor Manuel (chair)*, Herman Bosman*, Nomfanelo Magwentshu*, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka*, Dr Stavros Nicolaou*, Ravi Naidoo*, Johannes Adams, Yunus Bobat, Vuyani Jarana, Karrisha Pillay*, Philip October, Unathi Tshotwana.
Ex officio — Pholetsi Moseki (CSA CEO), Refenstse Shinners, Tjaart van der Walt.
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