STEVEN MANN, Cape Town | Tuesday 9.30am.
THE King Commission of inquiry which is probing corruption in South African cricket has postpostned its public hearings until Wednesday while the Cape High Court rules on an application by three media organizations to enable them to broadcast proceedings live.
The court ruling was expected later on Tuesday.
Commission secretary John Bacon said the hearings would resume on Wednesday, when fallen cricket captain Hansie Cronje will be grilled about his involvement in illicit gambling scams since 1996.
In a statement read out to the commission last Thursday Cronje admitted that he had accepted about $100000 in bribes and gifts, but denied ever throwing a cricket match. He escaped immediate cross-examination on medical grounds.
Retired judge Edwin King initially ruled that broadcast media would be barred from the hearings, saying he feared witnesses would be intimidated.
However in terms of a deal reached last week, the media were allowed to broadcast Cronje’s opening statement, while the court considered an application by e-TV and Live Africa Network News to give them access to the remainder of the proceedings. SABC later joined the court application.
Bacon said the commission would abide by the court’s ruling.