Will the Cricket SA transformation hearings be public?

New Cricket SA (CSA) independent board chairperson and social justice ombuds, advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, will this week meet to iron out legal uncertainties that led to the postponement of the body’s transformation hearings last month.

The public hearings begin on Monday.

They are part of CSA’s Social Justice and Nation Building (SJN) project established to investigate racial discrimination within the organisation.

The hearings were previously scheduled to start on May 17 but were controversially halted by the previous interim board late in the evening the day before they were supposed to commence.

CSA board chairperson Lawson Naidoo confirmed that Ntsebeza‚ who is ombudsperson of the SJN project‚ has requested the meeting.

Ntsebeza has been in Tanzania for the past few weeks to preside as a judge at the African Court on Human and People’s Rights.

He was appointed as one of the court’s two judges earlier this year and has been in Arusha in the east African nation‚ where the court sits.

Ntsebeza is scheduled back in the country on Wednesday ahead of the start of the SJN transformation hearings.

The hearings will run from July 5 to 23.

Last month‚ the CSA interim board said the postponement of the hearings was due to “further legal clarity” sought on the legal framework of the process.

The postponement also came after a letter from a law firm representing CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith and the head of the organisation’s anti-corruption unit, Louis Cole‚ which questioned the legal structure of the hearings.

Apparently erring on the side of caution‚ the CSA interim board and Ntsebeza agreed to the postponement until a legal opinion was sought.

The terms of reference were also a bone of contention after some members of the interim board pushed for the hearings to not be public.

Ntsebeza‚ however‚ has already assured the public he will not preside over secret hearings.

“I want it to be known I won’t be party to Gestapo-like kind of hearings where we are sitting in dark rooms.

"That’s going to be the end of my engagement and I am very clear about that‚” Ntsebeza said in an interview with eNCA in the wake of the postponement last month.

The letter from lawyers representing Smith and Cole‚ said Ntsebeza‚ also sought to caution that the nature of the hearings does not make people who will be giving evidence immune from defamation claims.

Prominent names of players‚ coaches‚ selectors‚ executives and stakeholders were expected to be implicated in the submissions received.

Ntsebeza is on record as saying anyone who is mentioned or implicated will be afforded a right of reply before he finalises his findings.

Naidoo confirmed the new board has received the legal advice sought by the interim board.

He said the document will be shared and discussed at the meeting with Ntsebeza this week.

“There are issues that are being raised around the terms of reference as well as the legal opinion sought [by the interim board].

"Those are the issues we want to discuss with advocate Ntsebeza‚” he said.

Asked whether the hearings will be public‚ Naidoo said: “That is one of the issues ikely to be discussed and I don’t want to pre-empt it at this point in time.”

Asked what the legal opinion was that was sought by CSA‚ Naidoo responded: “I don’t think it will be appropriate to disclose what the legal opinion is until we have had the opportunity to discuss it with advocate Ntsebeza.”

Naidoo said the new CSA board is committed to the hearings going ahead without a glitch.

“We just need to clarify certain issues. The SJN is obviously a critical project CSA has embarked upon and it is unfortunate  it was delayed. We need to get in up and running as soon as we can.”