Cape Town – Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) former acting chief financial officer (CFO), Ziyanda Nkuta, has been suspended. 

Sport24 can confirm that Nkuta, who had served as acting as CFO since October 2017 and had served as the organisation’s financial manager since mid-2015, was given news of her suspension on Thursday. 

She had, however, previously stepped down from her post as acting CFO in June this year, CSA says, and was serving in another capacity at the time of hearing of her suspension in her final month’s notice period. 

Nkuta last spoke publicly in April on CSA’s projected four-year R654 million loss, insisting that the organisation was not in a financial crisis. 

Details surrounding her suspension are yet to be confirmed, but at least two other employees were suspended on Thursday. 

They are procurement manager Lundi Maja and administrator Dalene Nolan.

Two independent board directors – Iqbal Khan and Shirley Zinn – also resigned from their posts this week.

This comes at a time where CSA CEO Thabang Moroe and his leadership have came in for heavy criticism following what has been a disastrous few days for the organisation. 

TIMELINE | CSA’s troubled times under Moroe leadership

Also on Thursday, the Central Gauteng Lions Cricket Board called for the resignation of Moroe and the entire CSA board. 

An ongoing legal battle with the South African Cricketers Association (SACA), the suspension of senior officials Clive Eksteen, Corrie van Zyl and Naasei Appiah without any detailed explanation, losing an arbitration hearing against the Western Province Cricket Association after having placed the union under administration and the absence of any permanent staff in charge of the national Proteas just three weeks out from the start of a home Test series against England have all contributed towards a national outcry against the current administration from the cricket fraternity. 

Things reached boiling point over the weekend when Moroe and CSA revoked the accreditation of five local cricket journalists because of how they were covering ongoing events at the organisation. 

That decision was then overturned 24 hours later, but it fuelled criticism from all corners with major sponsors Standard Bank expressing their “grave concern” at CSA’s administration. 

Since then, former CSA (previously UCB) bosses Norman Arendse, Ali Bacher and Haroon Lorgat have all publicly criticised the current regime.

CSA confirmed the suspensions to Sport24 on Friday morning.

A special CSA board meeting has been called for Saturday, where Moroe’s future is believed to be hanging in the balance. 

Details on the suspensions, CSA added, would emerge after that meeting.

** Sport24 had previously reported incorrectly that Nkuta was suspended while acting CFO. That is not the case as she had stepped down from that post at the time of her suspension. Sport24 apologises for the error …