Three directors of the Eastern Province Cricket Board have been removed through a unanimous board decision on the basis of the findings of two inquiries headed by retired judges.
They are Rafiek Potgieter, Dai Tai Marais and Leon Miggels.
This follows a finding by Judge Bernard Ngoepe on behalf of Cricket South Africa, which cleared the present and former Eastern Province Cricket board members and officials of claims of impropriety made by the three regarding the establishment of Mega Sportz NPC.
In a separate process, the Pillay Disciplinary Committee under retired Judge Ronnie Pillay found that “the actions of all three either individually, or together, deprives the board from operating as it should. The behaviour, in many ways, constitutes conduct unbecoming of company directors. The disrespect for other board members, attending illegal meetings, interfering with the status of the president, especially in the absence of any objection to the election process, and his election as president. It clearly suggests the existence of a secret or malfeasant agenda, which is a threat to the business of the board.”
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The board resolution to dismiss the directors was passed on 5 October.
“Notwithstanding the attempts by the former directors to portray EPC, the other former and existing directors and EPC officials in a negative light in the media, Mega Sportz NPC has initiated and secured major sponsorships for the benefit of cricket in the region,” said EP Cricket President Makhandan Leon Coetzee. “These include the securing of Dafabet as a naming rights sponsor for the Dafabet St Georges Stadium, as well as the Dafabet Warriors for a three-year term, managing successfully the first season of the Betway SA20 competition and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, as well as non-cricket events that includes the US Embassy Program, IsiXhosa Music Festival etc”.
The committee found that all three board members had contravened a number of provisions in the EPC MOI, Board Charter and the Companies Act. These included disrupting board meetings, breach of trust in relation to the performance of a director’s function, and communicating with the media without a mandate from the board since October 2022.
The findings echo similar findings by CSA.
Judge Ngoepe cleared Eastern Province Cricket board members, former board members and officials of claims of impropriety made by the three regarding the establishment of Mega Sportz NPC, an affiliate company of EPC established to provide stadium management functions at St Georges Park, identify other commercial activities to increase income and secure sponsorships for the benefit of EPC and its professional Warriors cricket team.
The three dismissed board members have the right to approach a court to review the determination by the board.