Smith and Boucher to Stay on Despite SJN Report, Draws Angry Response on Social Media

• CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith and Proteas head coach Mark Boucher will have to endure the Indian tour of South Africa uncomfortably
• Their appointments within the organisation were questioned in the recently-released SJN Hearing report
• Social media users questioned the motive, timing and point of the report as the Proteas look to return to the top of world cricket

Proteas head coach Mark Boucher and director of cricket will continue in the roles during the India's tour of South Africa starting on Sunday with the Boxing Day Test.

This was confirmed by Cricket South Africa (CSA) as it grapples with the way forward after the two were painted in unfavourable light in the Social Justice and Nation Building Commission (SJN) report. Headed by Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, the commission has been in session since April, investigating allegations of racial discrimination in the local game.

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In a summary on JacarandaFM.com, Ntzebeza found that former wicketkeeper Boucher's appointment to the post was irregular, flouting human resource policies at CSA. The report also stated that former Test captain Smith's appointment as director of cricket was irregular, although he did not attribute this to racial discrimination.

In a response to the report, CSA said:

"The Board has decided to institute formal enquiries into CSA employees, suppliers or contractors who are implicated by the SJN report."

"The formal inquiries will take place early in the new year. They will include formal inquiries into the conduct of Graeme Smith, the CSA Director of Cricket, and Mark Boucher, the coach of the Proteas Men’s team. The Ombudsman’s Report included findings that Smith and Boucher had acted in a prejudicial or discriminatory manner."

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Social media users were heated in their response.

Michael Fraser said:

"The whole process is flawed. You can't condemn one person for not being picked based on colour while there are players picked in the team based on colour. The quota system itself is a tool promoting racism"

Thabang Nong said:

"This report was weaponised to deal with certain individuals. Every finding is reduced to racism and other evidence is ignored. Why was there a rush to release the report on the eve of a series against India? Is the intention to destabilise the team and coaches?"

Larry Laas said:

"The whole idea behind the hearings was to find racism where there wasn't any and bring race into any decisions taken by CSA and certain players and management. "

Grizzly Prinsloo said:

"All of this is... BS! Play the game and let the future deal with itself. History is past and cannot be reversed. I was spit in the face, its history or must I ask for a commission. Blame, blame, blame or deny, deny, deny. What is it what you want to see. I want to see good honest competitive cricket."

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Khune sets social media ablaze with Chiefs exclusion tweet

Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeping legend Itumeleng Khune gave a telling response to a Twitter user who question his lack of game time at the club.

As mentioned on Briefly News, once renowned as "Mzansi's Number One" and "Mzansi's Finest", Khune commanded the starting number 16 jerseys at the Amakhosi as well as Bafana Bafana.

However, injuries and indifferent form have seen him falling out of favour, dropping out of the national setup entirely.

Source: Briefly News