That the Proteas culture and team environment is toxic is a fact that was this week established, acknowledged and accepted by the new independent Cricket SA (CSA) board and, to an extent, by embattled head coach Mark Boucher.
There were suspicions of the team pulling in different directions as evidenced by the "team decision" not to take the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement last year.
Those suspicions were confirmed this week after assistant coach Enoch Nkwe quit the team citing this toxic environment.
More worryingly, Nkwe also cited an apparent lack of discipline within the Proteas team. The toxicity was worsened when head coach Boucher stoked the raging racial fires on Monday after he admitted to being involved in racist acts against black former teammates during his playing days.
The embattled Boucher, after initially rejecting the racist allegations as "hurtful and factually incorrect" last month, made the about-turn this week.
He apologised, claiming he was "young and naive".
The allegations of racism against Boucher came tumbling out at the ongoing CSA Social Justice and Nation-building transformation hearings, where testimonies from black former Proteas players painted a gloomy picture of a national team environment that has been and continues to be exclusionary and discriminatory.
Boucher's admission, and the CSA board's acknowledgement that the Proteas team environment is a contaminated space, is telling and a serious indictment of the health and future of SA cricket.
DARK CLOUD HANGING OVER BOUCHER AND CSA REPUTATION
If the new CSA majority independent board is going to earn the trust of the public and media to make the right decisions, and they are serious about extinguishing the raging fires that have been fuelled by the racism allegations levelled against a head of a national team, they will have to take decisive action swiftly.
Boucher's appointment was questionable in the first place, if not unacceptable, when he was appointed in December 2019. The job was not advertised and he did not go through an interview process.
Reminded that a CSA recruitment process needed to be followed, director of cricket Graeme Smith unashamedly insisted that he would only work with Boucher, and that there was no need to invite applications.
Besides the bypassing of recruitment processes, how could three CSA boards not be bothered by the fact that Boucher and the person who appointed him, Smith, are the best of buddies from their playing days to the present time, a relationship which invited media scrutiny and a public backlash?
This is still to be figured out.
Notwithstanding this procedurally flawed appointment, results on the field of play alone are poor enough for Boucher to be dismissed.
The Proteas have been blowing hot and cold and struggling to inspire confidence under Boucher and have lost seven out of 13 series.
Some will argue that Boucher took over a depleted team after the retirements of key players following the 2019 World Cup, but the fact is that a coach is judged based on results.
Boucher's supporters will argue that he apologised, and say let's move on, but his admission of his involvement in racist acts should be the final straw.
That Boucher is still in the job, and this week led a travelling Proteas team for a limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka, is quite astonishing.
The international media has picked up on the story and Boucher's continued presence in the team that is in Sri Lanka will only add fuel to a raging fire.
NKWE'S RESIGNATION AND TOXIC TEAM ENVIRONMENT
Nkwe's resignation came against a backdrop of widespread criticism of Boucher after his admission and apology in a 14-page affidavit submitted at the hearings into racism in SA cricket, where the allegations were made.
The Sunday Times' digital platform TimesLIVE broke the story on Monday and reported that Nkwe's main gripe was that he feels sidelined from the running of the Proteas and that the working environment has become a contaminated space for him to continue to work in.
The CSA board later confirmed Nkwe's resignation with a statement and said it made "every effort to retain his services" but were unsuccessful.
"During these discussions he also raised concerns about the functioning and culture of the team environment.
"The board will be taking the necessary steps to investigate and address the issues raised by Enoch.
"We will not be commenting further on this until the process has been completed."
How the board will take "the necessary steps" to investigate a toxic team environment while the team's leader is still in office defies understanding.
CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING SMITH'S APPOINTMENT
The problems engulfing cricket today are a direct consequence of a succession of CSA boards bending over backwards to accommodate Smith's nonsensical demands.
Boucher would probably have not got the job through a proper recruitment process. Nkwe holds the highest coaching qualification in the world, level 4, while Boucher only has level 2.
With Nkwe having acted as interim coach for a tour to India in October 2019, Smith parachuted in his friend Boucher and demoted Nkwe, who had to report to a less qualified superior.
When Nkwe was appointed as an interim coach, he was informed that a recruitment process would be followed but that was not done in appointing Boucher.
CSA BENDING OVER BACKWARDS FOR SMITH
There are valid reasons why there is a nationwide outcry on Smith's flawed appointment and remuneration.
First the closing date for applications was extended to accommodate Smith after his application did not pass muster as per the job advert.
There were four shortlisted candidates for the job. All the four candidates were informed at the same time that they would have to prepare a presentation and were sent interview packs.
The other three candidates outlined their vision through presentations and Smith was the only one who did not.
The interview panel all felt that there was a level of disrespect and arrogance on Smith's part.
The panel concluded that the CEO would set up a meeting with Smith that included the board to address these concerns.
A few days later Smith tweeted and confirmed that he was interviewed but said he had "withdrawn" from the process.
This was then followed by a media backlash against the then CEO, who was accused of dilly-dallying, when it was in fact Smith who was dithering.
There was negative sentiment towards CSA from the media and sponsors. Alas, Smith eventually got the job.
SMITH'S IRREGULAR SALARY SPIKE
Smith was offered [R333,333 per month] R4m, which was sanctioned by the board.
But when Jacques Faul was seconded from the Titans to be acting CEO after Thabang Moroe was suspended in December 2019, on his second day in office, Faul sent Smith's contract to the board with an amount of [R450,000 per month] R5.4m.
The contract Faul sent had many of the clauses and key performance indicators for the role of director of cricket deleted from the ones in the approved R4m contract.
Smith's salary was now 35% above that which had been agreed upon the previous month, 400% more in guaranteed salary than the lowest-paid executive and 35% more than his superior, the CSA CEO.
There is no record of the R5.4m package having been tabled before the board or remuneration committee for approval.
Smith also roped in two other former teammates, Jacques Kallis and Paul Harris, and batting and bowling consultants on high salaries that were not budgeted for.
The CSA HR office only heard of these appointments through the media.
It is this type of free rein that emboldened Smith to undermine governance and recruitment procedures.
Cricket is in this mess because of a leadership vacuum at board level.
If the new CSA majority independent board is going to gain any credibility, they will have to take decisive action swiftly.
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