Cricket South Africa withdraws all charges against head coach Mark Boucher

Cricket South Africa on Tuesday announced that the board has formally and unreservedly withdrawn all charges against SA head coach Mark Boucher.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Tuesday announced that the board concluded there is no basis to sustain any of the disciplinary charges, including charges of racism, against Mark Boucher, the coach of the Proteas Men’s cricket team. The Board of CSA has therefore formally and unreservedly withdrawn all of the charges.

Various charges had been levelled against Boucher, which comes after former national spinner Paul Adams implicated the Proteas head coach in a racial incident when the two were teammates, alleging that the former wicket-keeper was part of a group who called him a “brown sh*t”.

The Board of CSA has formally and unreservedly withdrawn all charges against Proteas head coach Mark BoucherFull statement https://t.co/mLzJNQtvza pic.twitter.com/tz2GDKRSdF

In December 2021, the CSA Board received the report from the independent Social Justice & Nation-Building (SJN) Ombudsman, Adv Dumisa Ntsebeza SC. That report made adverse “tentative findings” regarding Mr Boucher, but because the Ombudsman stated that he was not in a position to make “definite findings”, he recommended that further formal processes take place to achieve finality on these issues.

In line with their fiduciary and legal obligations, the CSA Board resolved to institute formal proceedings as per the SJN Report’s recommendations, which would give all parties, including Mr Boucher, a chance to respond to the allegations and fully state their case. CSA was advised by external lawyers that the appropriate formal process to follow in respect of Mr Boucher was a formal disciplinary hearing in front of an independent Chairperson.

The charge sheet against Mr Boucher ultimately included the tentative finding made by the SJN Ombudsman against Mr Boucher, as well as issues arising from CSA’s own internal enquiry following the resignation of the Proteas assistant coach, Mr Enoch Nkwe. Advocate Terry Motau SC, a well-respected senior counsel, was appointed as the Chairperson of the disciplinary enquiry. After consultation with Mr Boucher’s legal team and considering the Proteas schedule, Adv Motau SC determined that the disciplinary hearing would commence on 16 May 2022.

The CSA Board has now taken the decision to formally withdraw all of the disciplinary charges against Mr Boucher. This includes the charges arising from the SJN report and the charges arising from the investigation following Mr Nkwe’s resignation. CSA has made this decision taking into account the following considerations: