South Africa’s economy or GDP contracted by 51 percent in the second quarter of 2020.
Notably, this was the fourth consecutive decline in quarterly GDP since the second quarter of 2019.
Yes, let this sink in.
The Government attributed this sharp downward spiral to COVID 19 but truth be told this was a result of all industries suffering owing to the harsh lockdown imposed, particularly manufacturing which contracted by 74.9%, trade catering, and accommodation which decreased by 67.6%, and mining which reduced by 73.1%.
Add massive unemployment and regular power cuts to this and you have a petri dish of all a faltering economy.
Cricket in South Africa has also seen a similar fate much like the economy and the crisis saga which began in December last year never ceases to amaze with ingredients of complete negativity, amid the latest news of the Proteas One Day team sponsor Momentum, the financial services company severing ties with CSA after their contract expires in April 2021.
This comes at a time when SASCOC (South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) has assigned a task force to look into the irregularities in CSA working and the forensic report basis which ex CEO Thabang Moroe was fired, that hasn’t been revealed till date.
CSA and SASCOC have met on Monday evening and are due to release a statement on Thursday on their plans of working together.
Moreover, the bigger hit for CSA is on their finances, with a further dent on their already accumulating loss of 654 million rands in the 4-year cycle, albeit a part of it has been mitigated owing to the profitable incoming tours of England and Australia last summer.
Having said this, with the Test team sponsor Standard Bank already out, Momentum’s loss will be a very big hit on the sponsorship wallet of CSA.
Momentum’s head of sponsorship Carel Bosman expressing sadness on taking this step said ‘We all want to see a governing body that is run professionally and ethically, and one that considers all stakeholders to the game. We will continue our dialogue with CSA to keep them accountable to do the right thing.’
It’s quite evident CSA’s recent policy of appointing affirmative action in hiring consultants i.e. preferring black consultants over other races hasn’t gone down too well with Momentum, who are urging for integrity, professionalism, and ethics to be strong pillars in the running of CSA.
Momentum’s loss to CSA is not only on their ODI outfit but also on the franchise one-day cup, the national club championships, the under-13, under-15, and under-17 school’s weeks and development initiatives including the Momentum Friendship Games and the eKasi Challenge.
Truth be told the dents of negativity continue to hit CSA and time is running out for them to get their house in order, else the competitive nature that we have been so accustomed to seeing with the Proteas in international cricket will surely be a thing of the past.
It’s simple if you don’t have the money, how can you make structures and plans to keep a team competitive in world cricket.
A silver lining amid these dark clouds of negativity though is Momentum will still continue sponsoring Proteas Women till 2023 with Bosman saying ‘We have been extraordinarily proud of our role in supporting the advancement of the women’s team and remain committed to that sponsorship agreement. Our continued support of the Momentum Proteas is in line with our brand narrative and we will continue to shine a light on their talent, build their commercial value and enable them on their journey to success.’
At least one positive to finish this article on?
