Proteas assistant coach Nkwe quits, citing ‘difficult working environment’

The Proteas leave this week for a six-match white-ball series in Sri Lanka, but may do so without assistant coach Enoch Nkwe.

Nkwe has quit the Proteas, saying in his resignation letter that the team management’s work environment has become a contaminated space for him to work in.  

Efforts to reach Nkwe on Monday were unsuccessful, but several informed sources confirmed his resignation. They said the Cricket SA board asked him to reconsider. 

“Enoch wrote a letter of resignation and handed it in. The board, after hearing of his resignation and reading the contents of the letter, refused to accept it and instead summoned the assistant coach to come and state his case because his reasons for leaving are serious and very concerning,” said an insider.

Nkwe’s main gripe, according to the insider, is that he feels sidelined from the running of the Proteas and is not involved in decision-making in the team.

“Nkwe feels that his inputs as assistant coach are not valued and taken into consideration. He feels he has been reduced to being a ‘cones boy’. He does not feel he is part of the team.

“The other concerning issues is discipline within the Proteas, which Enoch is not happy with. The conduct of some senior players and members of the team management in terms of discipline leaves a lot to be desired,” said the source.

It is alleged the Proteas team is “riddled with divisions” and squabbling, and that the administrators, players and coaches are afraid to speak out for fear of victimisation.

The Proteas white-ball squad assembled at the North West University Sports Village in Potchefstroom on Sunday to prepare for their tour of Sri Lanka. They will play a three-match ODI series and three T20Is in Colombo from September 2 to 14.      

Bowling coach Charl Langeveldt and fast bowler Junior Dala will no longer take part in the tour due to Covid-19 protocol-related reasons.

Dala has been replaced by Lutho Sipamla while Titans head coach Mandla Mashimbyi will replace Langeveldt. Justin Sammons has been called up into the management team as a batting consultant.

The team departs on Wednesday. It is not clear if Nkwe will be part of the travelling party.

Cricket SA board chair Lawson Naidoo said he was in meetings when contacted for comment on Monday.

The 38-year-old Nkwe is one of the country's most qualified and successful coaches. After a disastrous World Cup in 2019, Nkwe was named as SA’s interim coach for the tour of India in September of that year, which consisted of three T20Is and three Tests. 

With a depleted team after the retirement of Hashim Amla, Imran Tahir, JP Duminy and Dale Steyn after the World Cup, the Proteas lost the Test series 3-0 and drew the three-match T20Is 1-1.

Before the England tour of SA in December 2019, one of the first things Cricket SA’s new director of cricket, Graeme Smith, did was to demote Nkwe and replace him with his former Proteas teammate Mark Boucher, even though Boucher did not hold the required coaching licence to take charge of a national team.

In May, Nkwe missed the tour of the West Indies for a two-match Test and five-match T20I series.

CSA said at the time that Nkwe was on family leave. He was replaced by Boucher’s former assistant at the Titans, Mandla Mashimbyi, for the Caribbean tour.