Nicholson committee to meet next week

The sport ministry has said judge Chris Nicholson and his committee will next week look at finalising a report on the Cricket SA (CSA) bonus scandal.

Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s spokesperson, Paena Galane, said the committee would meet on Monday and Tuesday to decide whether the deadline for the submission of the report would be met.

“The judge is still working on the end of February deadline and should have it finalised (by then),” Galane said.
“The report will be given to the minister and we are hopeful that the matter would be resolved soon.”

This follows reports that Nicholson’s brief could be delayed for the committee to study additional documents on governance in cricket internationally.

Business Day newspaper yesterday reported that Nicholson received an independent governance review commissioned by the International Cricket Council and written by Lord Woolf released on February 1.

A second report by David Crawford and Colin Carter focuses on cricket in Australia. It was released in December.

Mbalula declined to comment yesterday on the latest issues surrounding the cricket federation.

“There are processes in motion, whatever is reported today (yesterday) will be part and parcel of the issues we will respond to once the judge has finalised his findings,” he said.

In his address to the South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee board, the minister said the inquiry into the CSA bonus scandal demonstrated his department “was serious about sport issues”.

“Our intervention in Cricket SA through the establishment of the committee of inquiry led by retired judge Chris Nicholson is based on such principles and commitment that South Africans should see that we are all serious about our values of accountability, integrity, transparency, dedication and teamwork,” he said.

“We therefore still expect everyone to cooperate with the judge Nicholson committee of inquiry, to give it space to do its work with diligence, and submit its report to the ministry.”

Oral submissions began at the end of November after the inquiry was announced by Mbalula on November 4.

They adjourned at the end of last month after a final oral submission by governance expert, judge Mervyn King.

- SAPA