Former South African cricketers Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher will undergo a formal enquiry launched by the national cricket board after accusations of alleged misconduct during their playing days according to the Social Justice and Nation-Building report.
The enquiry will be held in early 2022 and will be conducted by independent legal professionals who will review the content present in the SJN report. Till then, Smith and Boucher will continue to hold their current positions within the set-up and oversee the team’s series against India at home.
Smith, the former captain, is currently the director of cricket with CSA and former wicketkeeper-batter Boucher is the national side’s head coach till the 2023 World Cup.
The SJN report was made public on December 15 after an extensive set of revelations from multiple black South African cricketers and has made findings that have led to accusations of misconduct on Smith, Boucher, notably the great AB de Villiers, among others. The report has noted down incidents of these prominent individuals being engaged in behaviour that was discriminatory on the basis of race and colour.
But pertinently, Ombudsman Dumisa Ntsebeza “was unable to make definite findings” in the matter, reported ESPNcricinfo, and recommended further investigation. The board will now follow Ntsebeza’s word and make sure further probe is held. Smith and Bouncer will have to go through this process and the inquiry, among other popular figures.
“The Board has decided to institute formal enquiries into CSA employees, suppliers or contractors who are implicated by the SJN report,”
“The Board has done so mindful of its duty to treat allegations of racism or discrimination with the utmost seriousness and in a manner that ensures fairness and due process in terms of South Africa’s labour legislation and the Constitution.”
reads a CSA statement which was issued on December 20.
However, the report from ESPNcricinfo stated, “the new review process has been undertaken, in part, because CSA faced a legal threat from parties who had been implicated in the report because the findings were ‘tentative’. Therefore, if CSA has acted on those findings, they were at risk of their conduct being reviewed in the courts.”
The probe launched into the matter, which will be overseen by independent professionals, will give that alleged indifferential behaviour a chance to explain themselves again after they were queried for a testimony for the SJN. Back then, both Boucher and Smith had given written affidavits to Ntsebeza but didn’t produce any oral evidence in the case.
While the details of the new process are not yet confirmed, ESPNcricinfo quoted CSA chair Lawson Naidoo saying that the board hopes to give all “implicated parties” a fair opportunity to be heard so that they have clarity and can act upon the “final findings”.
Smith and Boucher are the two biggest names to have been accused of misconduct after the SJN findings. The two cricketers were part of South Africa’s strongest international side since the end of the apartheid. While Smith is the legendary skipper under whom Proteas achieved great heights as a Test side, Boucher was his ever-dependable wicketkeeper-batter.
Smith played 117 Tests, 197 ODIs and 33 T20Is for South Africa with over 16,000 international runs and an incredible record in all conditions as captain. Boucher featured in 147 Tests, 295 ODIs and 25 T20Is for the country while scoring over 10,000 runs and securing a whopping 953 caught dismissals and 46 stumpings in his illustrious career.
Besides the extensive probe into SJN findings, CSA is also looking to review payment structures for all players, including the reserve players and women’s team cricketers, to ensure a level of equality and reduction in the pay gap.
