Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula invited the media to attend a probe into the financial affairs of Cricket South Africa (CSA) in Pretoria on Wednesday but journalists were then thrown out.
Judge Chris Nicholson — the man heading the probe — threw out journalists as they arrived, telling them they could get the information from transcripts to be released on Thursday.
Nobody at the sports department’s offices in Queen Street, Pretoria could tell journalists why they had received a media invite to an event that they could not attend.
Ministry spokesperson Manase Makwela could not be immediately reached for comment.
It was not clear whether Nicholson — who tossed out the corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in 2008 — had been informed by the ministry that the media would be attending the inquiry.
KPMG report
The inquiry was announced by Mbalula on November 4 after a KPMG report recommended that CSA’s remuneration and travel allowance policy be reviewed after it found a reported non-disclosure of bonus payments to CSA employees.
KPMG was presenting its report to Nicholson on Wednesday. It was not clear how long the presentation would take.
KPMG found that the bonuses were kept secret from CSA’s remuneration committee with CSA chief executive Gerald Majola breaching the Companies Act on at least four occasions and paying himself R1.8-million from the R4.7-million in bonuses.
The committee includes two senior government officials from the treasury — accountant general Freeman Nomvalo and chief director Zoliswa Zwakala. — Sapa