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Nicholson will chair CSA probe

Johannesburg - KwaZulu-Natal High Court Judge Chris Nicholson will chair an inquiry into the financial affairs of Cricket SA, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula announced on Friday.

He said he wanted the inquiry done "as quickly as possible".

"The committee will meet every day for the next month. They will work day and night to conclude this particular matter. As I said before, I want this done by Christmas."

Mbalula, flanked by Deputy Sport Minister Gert Oosthuizen and Sport and Recreation SA (SRSA) director general Alec Moemi, made his announcement in Johannesburg.

Nicholson is the judge who dismissed corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in 2008.

Last month, Mbalula said he would appoint a committee to investigate a report submitted by auditing firm KPMG on the financial affairs of CSA.

Asked if the full KPMG report would be released to the public, Mbalula replied: "It is freely available. If you want it, you can get it."

He was also asked to comment on rumours that CSA chief executive Gerald Majola tried to make a deal with the sports ministry by resigning.

"There is no deal," said Mbalula.

"The fact is that we met with Gerald, like we would meet with anyone, like we met with [former CSA president Mtutuzeli] Nyoka, so he could explain his side of the story, and so we could explain to him how we got to this point.

"As for a deal - there was no deal."

The audit recommended that CSA's remuneration and travel allowance policy be reviewed after it found a reported non-disclosure of bonus payments to CSA employees.

This was contrary to the requirements of the Companies Act.

The minister said if the process cleared the names of CSA staff said to be involved "then we must all accept this".
"If there is corruption, let's deal with and put it in its place."

Last month, Cricket SA's board axed Nyoka, who has been leading a long battle to get to the bottom of what he termed "disturbing signs of corruption" in the organisation.

According to the KPMG report, Majola paid himself R1.8-million from a bonuses package totalling R4.7-million.

The bonuses were paid from money Cricket SA received for successfully hosting the Indian Premier League and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2009.

KMPG found the R4.7-million was kept secret from Cricket SA's remuneration committee.
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