Only three of CSA's 10 presidents,
including acting officials, have been white and they have had two black
African chief executives in Gerald Majola and Thabang Moroe, while Nkwe was
the acting head coach - officially the "interim team director" - on South
Africa's tour to India in October. But Nenzani, who has been in office since
February 2013, is widely despised as an obfuscating lame duck, Majola was
fired for not properly declaring bonuses, Moroe is currently suspended on
allegations of misconduct and Nkwe was effectively demoted to make way for
Boucher.
Cricket's relationship with race is
at a delicate stage, not least because solutions to problems run into by
blacks have tended to be provided by whites. The experience that whites have
accumulated in the decades during which blacks' progress on and off the
field was criminalized by apartheid legislation is an important reason why
that has happened. Apartheid's lingering legacy still skews every aspect of
life in whites' favour.
But that doesn't stop cricket's
racist quarters, which bristle with malevolence on social media, from
proclaiming their superiority and sowing distrust about the abilities of
blacks in the game. It also doesn't stop blacks from wondering whether they
are being wilfully sidelined by whites who think only they know what's best
for cricket.
The divergent reaction to the
contrasting fates suffered by Moroe, who is black, and Clive Eksteen, who is
white, illustrate this starkly. Many blacks defend Moroe fervently as if
there is no chance he has done anything wrong despite strong suggestions to
the contrary. Many whites consider him an inept crook.
CSA said last Sunday they had sacked
Clive Eksteen as head of sales and sponsorship because, Eksteen said, he
cost them USD 100,000 in lost revenue. He says he will challenge that
decision on the grounds that he did not make the choice that led to the
losses. But legions of whites are not waiting for the end of the process to
proclaim Eksteen innocence loudly and completely. Blacks have largely
maintained an indifferent silence on the issue.
Had Moroe said that "everything has
been okayed" for a match at Centurion next Saturday despite South Africa's
corona virus lock-down regulations, and had his assertion overturned, his
head would have been demanded far and wide.
Smith said exactly that on Wednesday,
and by Saturday the 3TC Solidarity Cup had been postponed because the
government had not given the go ahead. It's an error that shouldn't cost
Smith his job. And it's not as if he has got a lot wrong since his
appointment in December.
But that won't preclude people from
surmising that Smith and Moroe operate under different sets of rules. "You
must be able to see that," they will say. "It's there. In black and white."
Posted on June 21, 2020
More Stories on Sports
Pakistan consider debut for
16-year-old whose mother just died
Waseem Akram says he was forced out of Cricket by the Army (February 22, 2012)
Cricket Calendar - A
complete and updated list of international fixtures all over the world of
Cricket.