The final report of the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings, authored by Transformation ombudsman, Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, presents evidence of racial discrimination within CSA and SA Cricket.
Ntsebeza’s report found former South African cricketers, Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher, and AB de Villiers to have engaged in conduct that was detrimental to the careers of black African players.
As stated in the report, Graeme Smith, following Mark Boucher’s retirement after a freak eye injury in 2012, was accused of blocking Thami Tsolekile’s selection as wicket-keeper.
Instead of Tsolekile, who was selected in the squad as a backup keeper to Boucher, AB de Villiers was handed over the wicket-keeping responsibilities. Smith had vehemently denied and countered claims of racism in the non-selection of Tsolekile.
“I should emphasize that I was never in charge of selections. I had an opinion as a captain, but the casting vote was with the coach and the selectors. In the case of the 2012 tour of England, which Thami has alluded to, there was a whole panel of selectors.”
The Ntsebeza’s report, however, referred to the exclusion of Tsolekile as “totally irrational” and one that was evidence of “systemic racism.”
Through the course of the SJN hearings, former South African spinner, Paul Adams, said in his testimony that his teammates, including current Head Coach, Mark Boucher, sang a song that included the racial slur of “b**** s**t.”
In response, through an affidavit, Boucher admitted to singing the song and apologized for it, explaining that white players in his time were unprepared for a multicultural team dynamic in the post-Apartheid era.
Ntsebeza’s report also addressed the appointments of Graeme Smith as Director of Cricket and Mark Boucher as Head Coach, and deemed them to be flawed from a procedural perspective.
Further, the SJN report found that AB de Villiers discriminated against Khaya Zondo on racial grounds by not selecting him for the fifth and series-deciding ODI between South Africa and India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in 2015.
The Proteas selectors had confirmed Zondo to start in the playing XI as a replacement for David Miller, who was out of form at the time. Removed from the playing XI at the last minute, Zondo was replaced by Dean Elgar, who was flown from South Africa to India.
The report said, “The only reasonable conclusion is that Mr. De Villiers unfairly discriminated against Mr. Zondo on racial grounds.”
De Villiers refuted claims of race being a factor in Zondo’s exclusion from the team on multiple occasions, including an Instagram post soon after the release of the report in which he said, “I expressed honest cricketing opinions only ever based on what I believed was best for the team, never based on anyone’s race.”
Finally, the 235-page SJN report recommends the appointment of a permanent ombudsman to address race and gender-based complaints. At the moment, no penal action is being considered against the individuals named in the report. Cricket South Africa is still in the process of reviewing the document.
