Johannesburg
Graeme Smith, South Africa s director of cricket and former Test captain, has hit back through his lawyer at accusations of racial prejudice contained in a report by an ombudsman.
David Becker, former International Cricket Council head of legal and Smith s personal lawyer, issued a statement on Friday in which he disputed findings by Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, who headed a Social Justice and Nation Building Commission (SJN) to investigate allegations of racial discrimination in South African cricket.
In a report issued on Wednesday, Ntsebeza found that Smith “failed to rebut the presumption of unfair discrimination” in appointing former Test wicketkeeper and long-time team-mate Boucher as head coach of the national team ahead of Enoch Nkwe, a black coach who served briefly as national team director.
“Some of the findings are entirely questionable and without any basis,” said Becker, who claimed that lawyers for “various respondents” had raised “material concerns” about the integrity of the SJN process. “Important parts of the evidence are simply not dealt with in the report,” said Becker.
“For example, the ombudsman states that Smith did not explain why he appointed Boucher in his evidence. However, the reasons are clearly addressed by Smith and (former CSA president) Mr (Chris) Nenzani in their affidavits submitted to the SJN.”
Ntsebeza also found that Smith s appointment was irregular and that a refusal to report to then chief executive Thabang Moroe, who was later dismissed for misconduct, was evidence of “racial bias against black leadership”.
Becker pointed out that Smith did not appoint himself and that his appointment was approved by the national selectors, the entire board of CSA and senior executives of the organisation.
