Pitch battles: WPCA accused of mismanagement, lack of transparency

The Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) has been accused of neglecting its mandate to serve local cricket and for ignoring concerns raised on numerous occasions.

The Hanover Park Cricket Club says it has for months tried to address its concerns with the WPCA which include among them:

• The decision-making processes undertaken by WPCA which excludes clubs
• Operational and management issues
• Lack of transparency in projects being undertaken by WPCA
• Issues around the nominations of independent and non-independent directors
• Clarity on when the adjourned AGM will take place and in particular the availability of financials;
• Funding cuts to club cricket at grass roots level.

PLEAS TO WPCA HAVE GONE UNHEEDED, SAYS HPCC

Chairperson of the HPCC Ashraf Allie and his management team say they have been fighting for greater equality in the game of cricket at club level. Allie says the club’s complaints have gone unheeded for many years, to the detriment of the sport in the community and beyond.

“The issues have actually always been present, since the start of our new democracy and the end of apartheid. The playing fields have never been made equal as was the intention and mandate of all sports governing bodies,” Allie told The South African.

“The state of sports has actually become worse, solely because of corruption, mismanagement, and certain individuals in it for self-gain. Our sports are currently in crisis, made worse by sports governing bodies making decisions that do not benefit their respective sporting codes.”

– Ashraf Allie

Allie said the club made every effort to raise their concerns with the WPCA. Some of the more serious allegations against the association involve the Newlands building project development, the unfair voting process to elect members of council, and the delay, they say, in the presentation of the 2019/2020 financials. The 2020/21 financials are due at the end of April.

The home of the WPCA, Newlands Cricket Stadium, is in the midsts of an R750 million development, partially funded by a loan from Cricket South Africa.

The first phase of the development undertaken in partnership with Sanlam was expected to be completed by December last year, but that estimate has now been pushed back to June this year.

The WPCA had yet to respond to questions from The South African at the time of publishing.

READ: Lockdown and leadership crisis leaves WPCA in dire straits

LACK OF TRUST, TRANSPARENCY AND COMMUNICATION

According to HPCC, what lies at the heart of the dispute is the lack of trust, transparency, and communication by the members of the WPCA board. “The same individuals who are the reasons why we’re in this mess cannot be expected to get us out of this mess. Sadly, with the election processes at WPCA, there seems to be little regard for the rights and views of clubs. Again, all we ask is for the correct processes to be followed. Sadly, this is not even supposed to be an issue or issues if we have the best interests of cricket at heart,” said senior manager at HPCC, Raven Seals.

“This is not about race or politics, this is about doing what is right for all in our country. How can we bring in the race card, when we have people of all colours helping our club to come out of this vicious cycle of inequality? Enough is enough,” Allie added.

The club’s attorney Rabia Achmat highlighted concerns around “the manner in which persons are nominated for vacant positions without providing enough details as to how these nominations have come about and/or whether proper procedures were followed in so doing”.

Cricket in South Africa has gone through a painful period of upheaval at national level, with revelations of corruption and mismanagement by the former leadership of Cricket South Africa (CSA).

The Fundudzi Forensic Report into maladministration at CSA released last year, unveiled a range of mismanagement issues mainly by former CEO Thabang Moroe, who was later suspended. CSA President Chris Nenzani, feeling the heat, resigned late last year, followed by the rest of the CSA board.

CSA PLACED WPCA UNDER ADMINISTRATION IN 2019

It is the above style of mismanagement that is plaguing the game of cricket even at provincial level, says Allie. “As with the Fundudzi report that reveals CSA’s catastrophic management failures, we feel certain aspects highlighted in this report is similar to what is happening at WPCA. We are willing to expand on this if given the proper opportunity to engage on these matters,” he said.

CSA placed the WPCA under administration in 2019 over fears they were mishandling funds from a R40 million loan, but that decision was reversed by a court.

HPCC celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and counts among its alumni current Cape Cobras assistant coach Faiek Davids. Six years ago the club reinvented itself, and is now a NPO/PBO organisation, with two senior teams and the capacity to register up to seven senior male teams. It also has a women’s team, an under-13 girls team, five mini cricket teams and junior boys team in the under 11, 13, 15 and under 19 age groups.

Hanover Park in the Western Cape is a community ravaged by decades of neglect by local government, which has exacerbated the social ills of gangsterism, drugs, and gender-based violence. The game of cricket has been a saving grace for scores of youngsters growing up in the community with little in the way of opportunities for growth and success.

‘HOW DOES THIS AFFECT OUR CHILDREN LIVING IN GANG-AFFECTED AREAS?’

“We face daily struggles at ground level, especially with our situation in our community of Hanover Park. For example, It is easy to say that a decision has been made by WPCA not to play cricket because of COVID-19, but how does this affect our children living in gang-affected areas? What alternatives do they have to play cricket,” asked Seals. “There are many ways this understandable issue could have been handled better. Our club has had a feeding scheme in place for the duration of this pandemic. We have received no assistance from WPCA in this regard, other than superficial support. We have had to apply for our own funding with some being successful and others not.”

“Ever since our efforts to improve our own circumstances over the last 6 years, we have debated at Council meetings and sent many email correspondences to query our own matters and how the Association is conducting business include at CSA level, to no avail. We have written to CSA (No Response), The Department of Sport, who directed our concerns to SASCOC (Who acknowledged our attorney’s correspondence, however we have not heard from them again,” Allie explained. “Currently, it’s sitting with the Interim Board, who acknowledged our attorney’s correspondence however their plate seems full with all the other shenanigans they dealing with.”

Currently, only friendlies are allowed at amateur level cricket, however, a club like Hanover Park which relies on City facilities has to apply in order to play matches. “Those with their own facilities like schools and elite clubs play as its easier for them. It’s another reason how we are disadvantaged continually. If the facilities are City-owned, it’s a nightmare to apply and with other sports codes starting, what is the point of friendlies? Our members are disillusioned,” Allie concluded.