The Ghost (s) of Bad Leadership- by Simon Reader

Hansie Cronje went out LBW. 'Landed before Wilderness'. Hansie Cronje goes to hell where he meets an infuriated Osama bin Laden. 'Congratulations, ' says the terrorist (bin Laden) cynically, 'I told you to fly the plane into George Bush, not the bush in George.'

Jokes like these are now commonplace, but they still manage to upset people who were ardent supporters of the late-disgraced former captain and golden boy of South African cricket.

There are few people I know who do not forgive. There are even fewer people I know who agree that dying does not cleanse ones name or actions, regardless of how tragic the circumstances surrounding death may have been.

Between 1982 and 1987, President Robert Mugabe, with the help of a savage by the name of Perence Shiri, massacred up to 20,000 Ndebele inhabitants. It was the work of the North Korea trained 5th Brigade - not entirely unlike his current ZANU-PF youth militias.

Few people recite this infamous history - people are concentrating on the present as opposed to this bleak evidence. Because rape was not a crime, thousands of women and children were forced at gunpoint to perform sexual acts with the militia. Villages were burnt, people were brutally hacked to death with pangas and executions (60 a day) were the norm. Genocide Watch estimates that figure of 20,000. Survivors however, have claimed that up to 40,000 were killed.

When Robert Mugabe dies, I can guarantee you that Thabo Mbeki will mourn. He will attend his funeral and may even speak. Charles Barron, the biggest American racist, will send condolences, as will Noel Ignatiev and anyone else who is both spineless and void of conscious. Whether we like it or not, Robert Mugabe will be hailed as a hero of the African Struggle.

When Hansie Cronje died, people who had blatantly criticized him (radio jocks, public figures etc) went back upon their words and praised him.

No-one, to this very day, knows the entire story and I guarantee you that Arthur Hobbin, the British sports journalist who is investigating Hansie's Missing Millions, is going to open a can of worms if he is not killed and amongst those worms I can also guarantee, will be the names of all our Indian politicians. Never-the-less, it was the work of shallow idiots that vindicated Cronje in his death and lightened the darkness that engulfed the last of his years. Hansie Cronje, effectively, died a hero.

Poor Hansie. Those of us who have been arrested could have received some of that wasted sympathy. Bad leadership in the sport of cricket did not end there, however, and Hansie's death did not only prove that South Africans were capable of virtual grief. In the confusion that ensued, Hansie Cronje and his lawyer, Leslie Sackstein, managed to evade the truth by some unknown reason at the final detriment of our administrators and politicians (deservedly so you bastards). You see, the governing bodies in South Africa were adamant that Cronje be tried for his indiscretions. The Australians and Indians, guilty perhaps of far worse, were never even brought to trial. Ours made the fatal mistake of exposing themselves as the police to the criminal - the Indians and the Australians knew before that there was as much influence in match-fixing by the politicians and administrators as there was by the players. And although no politician would ever be fingered, the risk was too high.

It would be blatantly obvious, to say the least. So they let everyone off the hook unlike us. We martyred ourselves for the world by providing a dishonest fall guy and ultimately, shot ourselves in the foot. Against this, Tony Leon of the DA stated that the King Commission did more for evidence against the satanic arms deal than anything else. This is not difficult to see; we really live with some very, very thick and stupid people - no names mentioned but Ngconde Balfour leads where his predecessor the late and certainly not great, Steve Tshwete left. No-one was ever blamed, but like everything that is fucked - it reeked of dirty politics with all the bodged cover-ups and attempted distractions (Just yesterday, one of the infamous Shaik brothers was splashed all over The Sunday Times. Of all four disgusting brothers, three are being investigated by the serious financial crimes unit. Incidently, all four are also involved in the arms deal - one being South Africa's ambassador to Algeria).

Hansie Cronje and the embarrassing politicians did more for the failure of cricket in this country than apartheid ever did. I am reminded of that sentimental period of 2000 where people opened their hearts to a man that abused the trust of a country. Many people found their only happiness in a cricket team (when your future is held by an irresponsible, non-communicative government, it is not difficult to see why). But perhaps the most disgusting aspect of it exists in the form of the tycoon / gangster preacher that is Ray McCauley. I have heard first hand that Cronje's plan was based upon a façade of religion; the philosophy of immoral contradiction - simultaneous actions of prayer and theft.

Now, we find ourselves losing. Not surprising really, when you think about the selection. Allan Donald passed his sell by date in 1984. Charl Langeveldt and Robin Peterson are no where near the standard required - I would not put them into a pub side. Shaun Pollock, for all his talent and merit, is not a good captain - he is no-where near the strength of Stephen Fleming. No-one is playing well and I'm not sure why; Is it the fault of the politicians? Is it that they are simply lacking form? Or is it, above anything else, the shadow or the ghost of the late captain that looms? Allan Donald is claiming that the cup should be dedicated to Hansie Cronje. Jonty Rhodes was not far behind him. Dr. Bacher, already embarrassed at the decisions made by the political bodies to play some matches in Zimbabwe, will host the title of being the last person placed in charge of organizing a world event in South Africa - potentially something amazing, regretfully unacceptable.

We lack integrity via administration - we, in Africa, hail villains as heroes.

The saddest thing that can happen to us is wasting the talent of Hershelle Gibbs. A maestro beyond description, he lacks the support of fellow team members to set the example he is to aspiring, previously disadvantaged cricketers. He is the one good thing to have emerged from the Hansie Cronje debacle.

So, we are left with an whimsical air of hope. As it stands, the arithmetic does not bode well for our short-term cricketing future. We have not only managed to sufficiently bone our credibility as a sporting nation by attempting to support matches played in Zimbabwe, but we actually host people intent on supporting Hansie Cronje. We are blatantly open about this; Kevin McCullum, the Star's sport's writer, claimed that 'Cronje was the man who should have rightfully led this team'.

Like Cronje, Mugabe will die a death celebrated as heroic on this continent. The West, with scientific research to support, will denounce his life like it should be, never having had the capacity (for God knows what reason) to subpoena him for genocide. Mugabe has cleansed his country of potential opposition by gruesome tactics and I get arrested for peeing against a wall in perhaps the most lawless suburb in Johannesburg.

Although that you cannot compare the two men directly by any means, there are definite synergies in the way bad leadership is firstly, represented and secondly, perceived. For us to claim Hansie Cronje as a hero would be like our politicians openly ignoring the atrocities of Matabeleland between 1983-1987. And those are the last shoes you ever want to find your feet in.

There are some people, like our Indian politicians, who are capable of 'getting away with it'. There are many conspiracy theories why this is so; the facts are frightening. There are deals, it is said, within the framework of the arms deal that would take years to unravel. The figures, the players and the kickbacks. We have never been very good at politics, but we have recently decided to attempt at peace. As the second is the more attractive proposition, my advise would be to tell as many Cronje and Mugabe jokes as you can. If we had taken the Australian route, we would have allowed a cheat to reign free in an already lawless country. More politicians would be openly supportive of Mugabe and the arms deal, I am sure, will have had more dire financial mismanagement and less exposure that it already has.