Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday announced its decision to formally withdraw all disciplinary charges against men’s team head coach Mark Boucher, including charges of racism.

“CSA concluded that there was no basis to sustain any of the charges against Boucher. CSA has therefore withdrawn the charges and will contribute towards his legal costs,” the board said in a statement. 

“CSA and Mr Boucher have discussed the way forward and committed themselves to an open dialogue and engagement in order to promote the best interests of South African cricket so as to achieve CSA’s strategic goals of access, inclusivity and excellence.”

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In December last year, the board received a report from the independent Social Justice & Nation-Building (SJN) Ombudsman, Adv Dumisa Ntsebeza SC. 

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Since the Ombudsman was not in a position to make “definite findings”, he “recommended that further formal processes take place to achieve finality on these issues,” the statement said. 

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Following this, all parties involved were given a chance to respond to the allegations.

“The charge sheet against Boucher ultimately included the tentative finding made by the SJN Ombudsman, as well as issues arising from CSA’s own internal enquiry following the resignation of the Proteas assistant coach, Enoch Nkwe,” stated the release.

Lawson Naidoo, Chair of the CSA Board, commented, “CSA has at all times been committed to dealing with the SJN issues in a manner that treats them with utmost seriousness but also ensures fairness, due process and finality. The decision to withdraw the charges brings about finality on these issues for CSA and Mark and allows the focus to return to the cricket field – where we trust that Mark and the Proteas will go from strength to strength.”