CSA suspends employees amid Mzansi Super League non-payment furore

Cricket South Africa (CSA) says employees alleged to be involved in dereliction over the non-payment of players for appearance in the 2018 Mzansi Super League have been placed on precautionary suspension. 

CSA did not say how many employees are involved in the incident or provide the names of those employees, but yesterday it was reported that  Corrie van Zyl, the interim director of cricket, chief operating officer Naasei Appiah as well as head of Marketing, Clive Eksteen,  had all been suspended. 

In a statement on Wednesday, CSA says it recently became aware of "an unfortunate situation involving players and player contracts, through player intermediary, the South African Cricketers Association (SACA) in which speculation and indeed allegations of dereliction were leveled against CSA, following alleged non-payment of player fees, stemming from the Mzansi Super League arrangement, in 2018."

The organisation said it was "in the process of investigating the matter to determine the extent to which certain CSA employees were or were not derelict in fulfilling their duties. This is in line with the effort of ensuring that the principle of accountability is applied equally, fairly and without fear or favour throughout the organisation.

"Whilst the investigation of this matter is in progress, employees who are alleged to have been involved in this matter have been placed on precautionary suspension until the investigation is completed, following which disciplinary action could be instituted against the affected employees."

The organisation said an agreement was reached for all fees due to players will be transferred to SACA with immediate effect, thus preventing "all potential interruptions to the game of cricket."

Thabang Moroe, CSA’s Chief Executive commented: “CSA wants to reassure all cricket fans and all cricket stakeholders that our organisation and indeed our staff adhere to the highest ethical standards in all our dealings and that consistency and accountability remains uppermost in all our processes and procedures.

“It is our expectation that all our staff members, including third-party stakeholders who are associated with the CSA brand should protect the reputation of CSA and the sport of cricket at all times.”

On Friday, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said full-time appointments concerning the national team's coaching staff and selectors needed to be made urgently.

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This in the wake of the Proteas' disastrous tour in India