CSA formulated plans to conclude a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the South African Cricketers’ Association (Saca) as a matter of urgency on Wednesday. 

The new agreement will have the scope to include all national, franchise, senior provincial and women’s cricketers and will be made binding on them in accordance with Section 23 of the Labour Relations Act.

The current MoU expires on April 30 2018 and the intention is for the new agreement to run for the next five-year period from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023.

In the event of negotiations concerning the new MoU not being completed by April 30, CSA has indicated its willingness to extend the existing contracts for a further period with the intention of having the new agreement in place by July this year.

‘While we will be seeking to clarify our relationship with Saca,’ commented CSA acting CEO Thabang Moroe, ‘I would like to stress that there will be no fundamental change in the underlying relationships between CSA and Saca. It is rather the intention to restructure these relationships that cover the employer/employee relationship, the collective bargaining relationship and the commercial relationship so that all of these relationships are regulated under separate agreements.

‘In the interim, while the new MoU is being negotiated, CSA gives an irrevocable undertaking that an interim agreement is being proposed to allay any anxiety on the part of our cricketers concerning their futures.

‘In conclusion, I would like to thank the Saca senior executives for the good spirit in which negotiations have been conducted to date and I am confident that this matter will be brought to finality within a reasonable time frame,’ concluded Mr Moroe.

Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images