Gerald Majola suspended with immediate effect

Gerald Majola, the chief-executive officer of Cricket South Africa, has been suspended with immediate effect by the CSA's board of directors, pending the establishment of a disciplinary inquiry into the bonus controversy related to the 2009 IPL. The decision was taken after the board of directors met in Johannesburg to discuss the findings of a government inquiry into the payment of unauthorised bonuses. Judge Chris Nicholson, who chaired the committee conducting the inquiry, had recommended Majola be put on 180 days leave with full pay, in accordance with his contract, to prepare his defence for a possible court case.

A board release said a disciplinary inquiry was required to address the findings of the KPMG report and the recommendations of the Nicholson Committee of Enquiry.

The board of directors also appointed Dr. Willie Basson, an experienced cricket administrator and current chairman of the CSA Transformation Committee, as acting president of CSA until the annual general meeting in September 2012. Basson replaces AK Khan, who resigned the post on March 14. The board had not been able to resolve the issue of unauthorised bonuses under Khan, and the South African government stepped in after CSA did not make the findings of the KPMG report into the issue public and ignored subsequent legal advice by advocate Azhar Bham.

Khan had previously been vice-president, when Mtutuzeli Nyoka was president, and had, in that capacity, headed an internal inquiry into the bonus controversy, which saw Majola let off with a caution. CSA has now rescinded all the decisions made based on the investigation chaired by Khan.

CSA has also requested North West to second Jacques Faul, the CEO of North West, to act as CEO in place of Majola until the matter is resolved.

The Nicholson-led committee had, in their inquiry, found that Majola may have violated the Companies Act, and Majola is likely to face legal action.

Majola and other staff members received a collective R4.7 million (US$ 671.428) in bonuses after the hosting of the 2009 IPL and Champions Trophy but those payments were not disclosed to CSA's remunerations committee (REMCO) and were picked up as irregularities. KPMG were eventually tasked with looking into CSA's financial affairs and found that Majola may have breached the Companies' Act on four counts. When CSA did not make KPMG's findings public, South Africa's sports minister, Fikile Mbalula, chose to intervene and set up the inquiry in October, 2011.