Kugandrie Govender will take over as acting chief executive officer at the embattled Cricket South Africa (CSA) with immediate effect, becoming the first woman to lead the cricket organisation.
Govender, who has been CSA’s chief commercial officer, will replace Jacques Faul, who terminated his contract earlier this week.
Of her appointment yesterday, Govender says: “CSA’s mandate is to ensure that cricket is an inclusive sporting code for all South Africans.
“It is important to improve our reputation both locally and internationally.
“This is a critical time for our organisation and crucial for key stakeholders to work together to improve the rating of cricket among those who love, support and follow the sport and those who have trust in the sport’s ability to unify all South Africans.
“We will work hard to improve the levels of pride amongst our stakeholders and I am humbled to be a part of the collective that commits itself to ensure that CSA is a federation of which South Africans are proud.”
Interim president Beresford Williams believes Govender has all the credentials to navigate the murky waters Cricket SA currently finds itself in.
He says: “She is a multi-faceted executive leader with more than 23 years’ experience in the corporate sector and currently holding the position of chief commercial officer at Cricket South Africa.
“We believe that Kugandrie is the right person to drive the organisation forward during this period.”
Govender, who joined CSA in April 2019, has a short-term contract which will run until the end of next month, which will include the Annual General Meeting on September 5.