South Africa players body demand investigation and accuse Thabang Moroe after CSA suspend three officials

Naasei Appiah, Corrie van Zyl and Clive Eksteen were singled out by the governing body amid the Mzansi Super League dispute

The South Africa Cricketers' Association have been left "surprised" by the suspension of three senior CSA staff, including temporary director of cricket Corrie van Zyl, amid the Mzansi Super League controversy.

Both bodies were involved in a dispute after CSA breached rules regarding the use of players' commercial rights, leading to SACA launching a Rand 2.4 million action.

The scheduled payments are said to have been fulfilled, however, but that is not the end of the tale. CSA have held their own investigation, leading to the suspension of their chief-operating officer, commercial manager and interim head of cricket.

SACA, who represent all players, have responded to the development with a detailed statement in which they outline their dealings with CSA during the episode.

They make a thinly-veiled swipe at CSA chief executive Thabang Moroe, who they believe would have been aware of the breach.

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“We are very surprised that Naasei Appiah, Corrie van Zyl and Clive Eksteen have been suspended in relation to allegations surrounding CSA’s non-compliance with the 2018 MSL commercial agreement,” said SACA’s chief executive Tony Irish. 

“SACA didn’t deal with Appiah on this issue and in its dealings with Van Zyl and Eksteen over many months they both expressed a strong desire to resolve the payment issue, but it eventually became clear that higher approval to do so was necessary.

“We think it’s highly unlikely that CSA’s chief executive, Thabang Moroe, would not have been aware of this ongoing issue. He was undoubtedly aware of payment obligations as he had signed the agreement.”

Irish added: "SACA accordingly calls upon CSA not only to ensure that its investigation into this MSL issue is conducted by an independent person, or organisation, but also that an independent investigation is conducted into these related matters."