Embattled Mark Boucher to call Proteas players to testify on his behalf

Mark Boucher intends to call some Proteas players to testify on his behalf during his disciplinary hearing set to take place in May, after the conclusion of the team's tour to New Zealand and the visit of Bangladesh in March and April. 

This emerged as Boucher’s legal representatives reiterated they will pull out all the stops to help the embattled Proteas men’s national team coach to successfully defend gross misconduct charges, including allegations of racism against a teammate dating from his playing days two decades ago.

Boucher will appear before a disciplinary hearing in May after his employer, Cricket SA (CSA), charged him on allegations of gross misconduct.

The charges emanate from a report from Social Justice and Nation-building (SJN) hearings which found Boucher engaged in racist behaviour by his participation in the overtly racist song which referred to Paul Adams as “a brown shit” during the team’s fines meetings when the two were Proteas teammates.

The SJN report recommended CSA to institute an independent disciplinary committee to investigate further as its findings were "tentative".

CSA agreed and the governing body appointed Terry Motau SC to chair the independent committee. Boucher was charged last week and could be dismissed if found guilty.

When Black Lives Matter gripped the Proteas and the issue of “taking the knee” threatened to divide the dressing room, Boucher allegedly dealt with the white players’ concerns and requested the team manager, who is black handle, the black players’ concerns, according to the charge sheet.

CSA lawyers will argue this allegedly created or exacerbated the division and alienated players and the team.

One of the charges against Boucher is that he allegedly treated former assistant coach Enoch Nkwe “in a manner unbecoming of a leader in his position”.

Nkwe raised “concerns about the functioning and culture of the team environment” as one of his reasons for his resignation in August last year.

Mohammed Chavoos, a labour employment lawyer who is part of Boucher’s legal team, said every effort will be made to defend their client.

“It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the merits of the case but we have said before that Mark looks forward to responding to the allegations made against him and clearing his name at the hearings,” said Chavoos.

A report in an Afrikaans newspaper at the weekend claimed “a group of wealthy businesspeople are bankrolling Boucher’s legal defence" and “will spare no expense in getting him the best legal defence money can buy”.

“ I don’t want to comment on that,” Chavoos said when asked to comment on  the claims.

“We are here to represent Mark as best we can and ensure he is given a fair opportunity to state his side of the story and clear his name. That’s all we want for him.”

Chavoos would not be drawn to comment on the makeup of Boucher’s legal team.

“I am not at liberty to say that.”

Aadil Patel is the head of employment law at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr and is part of the CSA legal team in the matter.

Patel said he does not have approval from CSA to talk on their behalf.

CSA board chair Lawson Naidoo said the organisation has taken a responsibility to institute an independent disciplinary committee.

“What we are not going to do is run the case through the media,” Naidoo said.

The onus will be on CSA's lawyers to prove the allegations against Boucher beyond any reasonable doubt.

“The dates for the hearings have been set and we will present our case before advocate Terry Motau. We will not be commenting on the merits of the case except in the formal proceedings," said Naidoo.

“The responsibility of the board was to formulate the charges, which we have done.”

Both sets of lawyers argued before Motau last week on dates for the hearing.

The CSA argued for expediency and a speedy commencement and finalisation of the proceedings, and wanted the matter to be set down for the week of March 7 to 11.

But Boucher’s lawyers wanted any period from May 10 to 19, arguing the coach intended to call Proteas players to testify on his behalf and that these players will be part of the tour of New Zealand.

The team flies out today (Wednesday) for a two-match Test series in Christchurch from February 17 to March 1.

They will return home for the Bangladesh inbound tour consisting of two Test matches and three ODIs from March 18 to April 11.

Boucher’s lawyers argued that having a hearing in between the two tours would be disruptive.

Having considered both arguments, Motau agreed with Boucher and ruled the hearing will be held from May 16 to 20.

Boucher initially denied any involvement but later changed tune in the face of a public and media outcry and said he "deeply regrets and apologises for the part I played in joining in  my teammates in singing offensive songs or using offensive nicknames".