It’s been the rhetorical question on everyone’s lips for quite some time: will Cricket South Africa ever get the unlawful bonus money back from those who received it? There seems to be a chance that they will. CSA is attempting to recover R3,3 million from suspended chief executive, Gerald Majola and former chief operating officer, Don McIntosh.

In respect of the civil litigation processes, the legal retrieval process of the exhorbitant and unlawful bonus payments needs to commence by July 22 – the day three years after which the money was paid – otherwise the recipients will be untouchable in terms of civil law.

Jacques Faul, CSA’s acting chief executive, confirmed yesterday that the board had decided to demand that Mr Majola and Mr McIntosh pay back the money.

The decision seems to have come directly from the top of the metaphorical batting order – Sports and Recreation Minister, Fikile Mbalula – after an urgent board meeting was called on Thursday.

Faul said:

We are going to instruct our lawyers to inform them we want their bonuses back, and that will happen this week. We are going to study the [Judge] Nicholson report again and get some legal advice.

We also have to talk to the [Sports and Recreation] minister [Fikile Mbalula] and his legal team. The minister wants us to pursue this and we are going to do it. The money was paid unlawfully, so in terms of civil litigation we will claim it back.

We will formally ask them to repay their bonuses. In terms of civil litigation, we have to start the process within three years [of the bonuses being paid], and we need to be wary of that.

On the subject of CSA’s former corporate relations manager, Kass Naidoo, Faul said:

We have to talk to our lawyers about her.

Out of the three mentioned above, only Mr McIntosh commented:

I’m not a person who likes giving 101 updates in real time to the press. I have always respected proper process without contributing to all the half-accurate media speculation that seems to occur, and will continue to do so.

40 other CSA employees shared the remainder of the R4,7 million in unlawful bonus cash.

[Source: BusinessDay]