Cricket South Africa will be seeking Mark Boucher’s dismissal as Proteas coach when he appears before the disciplinary inquiry that will be chaired by Adv. Terry Motau SC.
Cape Town – Cricket South Africa is putting the squeeze on Mark Boucher, contending an “irretrievable breakdown in the trust relationship,” between the Proteas head coach and the organisation.
In the charge sheet which was handed to Boucher on Monday, CSA states that it will be seeking his dismissal as Proteas coach before the disciplinary inquiry that will be chaired by Adv. Terry Motau SC.
The charges include Boucher’s failure in dealing with the Black Lives Matter issues in a more prudent manner, his lack of support for former assistant coach Enoch Nkwe, and the findings made in the Social Justice and Nation Building report, related to Paul Adams.
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Adams testified before the SJN last year that Boucher was one of a group of teammates that called him ‘brown shit,’ in a song sung in the South African changeroom during a tour to England in 1998. CSA describe Boucher’s behaviour as “”unbecoming of an employee in your position”
“It is alleged that you committed gross misconduct in that you: repeatedly used racist and/or offensive and/or inappropriate utterances regarding Mr Adams, your Proteas teammate; Having had your racist and/or offensive and/or inappropriate utterances drawn to your attention, you failed to adequately and/or sufficiently and/or appropriately apologise for these utterances and/or acknowledge the racist nature of these utterances and/or the hurt that they caused.”
ALSO READ: Boucher set to meet Paul Adams after ‘brown sh*t’ revelations
The charge sheet states further that Boucher conducted himself “in a racist or subliminally racist manner by failing to acknowledge the impact of your conduct towards Mr Adams, thereby exacerbating the offence of racism, bearing in mind your current position as the coach of the national team, which places you in a position of leadership and responsibility.”
Cricket SA further outlined that when the Black Lives Matter issue arose, Boucher was role caused division among the players, alienating many in the process.
“When dealing with the Black Lives Matter issue and the question of ’taking the knee’, you allegedly dealt with the white players’ concerns and requested that the team manager (who is black) deal with the black players’ concerns.”
The Proteas have only recently started taking the knee before matches following a directive from Cricket SA’s Board. The players had previously engaged in a mish-mash of initiatives that included raising a fist before a Test match with Sri Lanka and then during the West Indies tour last year, some players knelt while the majority of white players stood, some with their fists raised.
Nkwe was also drawn into the charge sheet, with CSA claiming Mark Boucher showed poor man-management in his relationship with his former assistant.
“You allegedly did not formalise any documented “roles and responsibilities” or meaningful KPIs for the Assistant Coach, Mr Nkwe; you allegedly did not provide any specific or sufficiently specific and defined role for Mr Nkwe and no “personal development plans” were documented or implemented for Mr Nkwe; and you allegedly treated Mr Nkwe in a manner unbecoming of a leader in your position.”
When Nkwe shocked the local fraternity last year with his resignation from the Proteas, he cited among other things, “concerns about the functioning and culture of the team environment.” Nkwe’s allegations formed part of an internal inquiry conducted under the auspices of current acting CEO, Pholetsi Moseki. Those findings have not been made public.
Boucher’s legal team will meet with Motau next Wednesday to determine a timetable for the hearings.
On Thursday, Boucher said he would co-operate with the legal proceeding.
“I look forward to dealing with and defending these allegations which have been made and will do so at the hearing in due course,” Boucher said. “For now I am solely focused on my duties as head coach of the Proteas.”
