JOHANNESBURG
\nCricket South Africa announced on Tuesday that all charges against head coach Mark Boucher have been withdrawn, leading to the abandonment of a disciplinary hearing which was due to start on May 16.
\nThe 45-year-old former Test wicketkeeper was facing charges of racism, laid by CSA, which could have resulted in his dismissal.
\nThe controlling body admitted in a statement that there was \u201cno basis to sustain any of the disciplinary charges\u201d.
\nThe allegations against Boucher followed Social Justice and Networking hearings last year into discrimination into cricket.
\nBoucher was accused by former teammate Paul Adams of leading a song with racially derogatory words during fines meetings after matches while they were playing.
\nAdams announced on Sunday that he was not prepared to testify at the hearing, stating his comments to the SJN ombudsman related to the overall culture of the team rather than any particular player.
\nCSA noted in its statement that Boucher had apologised to Adams and the apology had been accepted.
\nIt was also alleged that Boucher had sidelined his black assistant coach Enoch Nkwe, leading to Nkwe\u2019s resignation, but Nkwe was also unwilling to testify at the planned hearings.
\nA further charge was that Boucher had failed to deal effectively with controversy over \u201ctaking the knee\u201d in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
\nCSA said its lawyers had consulted with other potential witnesses and concluded that none of the three charges were sustainable.
\nThe recent exoneration of director of cricket Graeme Smith, who like Boucher had been the subject of \u201ctentative findings\u201d by SJN ombudsman, Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, \u201cfortified the conclusion that the charges against Mr Boucher would be dismissed.\u201d
\nBoard chairman Lawson Naidoo said CSA had been committed to treating issues raised at the SJN hearings \u201cwith utmost seriousness\u201d with a view to ensuring fairness.
\n\u201cThe decision to withdraw the charges brings about finality on these issues for CSA and Mark and allows the focus to return to the cricket field.\u201d Boucher is contracted until the end of the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
\nCSA chief executive Pholetsi Moseki acknowledged that it had been a difficult time for Boucher.
\n\u201cCSA regrets this. CSA is also appreciative of the fact that Mark has at all times conducted himself properly and professionally,\u201d said Moseki.
\nLeading South African businessmen had assembled a high-powered legal team to defend Boucher.
\nThe lawyers had made an official request for the disciplinary hearing before Advocate Terry Motau to be held in public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JOHANNESBURG Cricket South Africa announced on Tuesday that all charges against head coach Mark Boucher have been withdrawn, leading to the abandonment of a disciplinary hearing which was due to start on May 16. The 45-year-old former Test wicketkeeper was facing charges of racism, laid by CSA, which could have resulted in his dismissal. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7098,7097,7099],"class_list":{"0":"post-259828","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-csa","9":"tag-mark-boucher","10":"tag-racism-charges"},"yoast_head":"\n