South African presidents rebuke Gauteng chairman

The presidents of 10 of South Africa's 11 provincial unions have issued a stinging rebuke to Gauteng chairman, Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka, who last week described a media statement from United Cricket Board chief executive Gerald Majola as "buffoonery".

Dr Nyoka was quoted in Business Day last week as saying the media release, which mentioned the success of the transformation process, was "pure idiocy". Business Day also reported him as saying Majola's views on transformation were "buffoonery".

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the presidents of the unions say they read of Dr Nyoka's remarks with "utter dismay".

"Our dismay stems from the fact that Gauteng Cricket absented itself from the continuation of the UCBSA meeting where decisions were taken which formed the basis of some of the matters in the CEO's press statement. Gauteng is party to all the decisions which the CEO has had to implement and Dr Nyoka's utterances are therefore inexplicable. We, the presidents of the other provinces, hope that the views Dr Nyoka expressed were his own and not those of Gauteng Cricket, and that Gauteng's failure to attend a meeting of great importance such as the proposed amendment of the constitution to accommodate South African cricket's restructuring is his failure and not that of Gauteng Cricket."

The statement also says that Majola has the full backing of the presidents and that "We support our CEO and reject the name-calling he has been subjected to with contempt".

Dr Nyoka did not want to respond to the statement on Tuesday evening, saying he would be issuing a statement of his own on Wednesday morning, but it seem the only honourable course of action open to him would be either to apologise or resign the Gauteng chairmanship. If not, the Gauteng board may have to explore ways of removing him from his position.

Particularly damaging for Dr Nyoka is the charge that he was not present at the second half of the UCB's general council meeting last month at which the restructuring of South African cricket was debated. The entire future of the game in this country is under review and it is a mystery why he should have absented from this discussion and then chosen to criticise Majola afterwards. It is also not clear whether the Gauteng board were aware of his absence from this meeting.

Dr Nyoka was only elected Gauteng chairman last year, but his term in office has been marked by controversy. He challenged Percy Sonn's UCB presidency last yeat with a campaign that consisted almost entirely of character assassination. For once Sonn was not provoked into responding and retained his position in a landslide vote.

More recently, Gauteng embarrassed themselves when they plunged into the row which broke out when Daryll Cullinan turned his back on the national team. Gauteng unilaterally suspended Cullinan pending an inquiry into the affair and then announced a "commission of inquiry" into South African cricket. This "commission" has been completely ignored by the UCB and its affiliates and, as far as can be ascertained, has never sat.

On the field Gauteng endured another dismal season, once again failing to qualify for the final stages of the SuperSport Series and off it questions have started to be asked of the abilities of chief executive Thabo Moseki.

Dr Nyoka's latest outburst, however, has had the effect of isolating the province from the rest of South African cricket. Although traditionally one of the country's most powerful unions, Gauteng's fortunes have nosedived in recent years. The province can ill-afford a maverick chairman at odds with the rest of the country.