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Cronje's June 22 testimony

MR CRONJE: That is correct.

MS BATOHI: Neither did John or Sunil or anyone else that you had already made contact with?

MR CRONJE: I spoke to Sunil during our tour to India this year and I also spoke to him in Sharjah this year and Sunil is really somebody that will just come up to you and talk to you as a friend, who was - took me out for a meal once this year in India and sat in the same restaurant as us every morning of the Sharjah Cup, spoke to me on a friendly basis and once came up to me and wanted to know from me whether I was playing in the fourth match of the Sharjah Cup. I said to him I wasn't playing and he said that he wanted to put some money on the match. I don't know whether he put money on it or whether he didn't put money on it. He certainly didn't ask me to help him with anything other than just to give him the information as to what the South African team would be for that day. I think more out of curiosity than anything else.

MS BATOHI: Did you play in that match, the fourth match?

MR CRONJE: I did not and at the table I told him that I was not playing, I told him that Shaun Pollock would be captain, my wife was sitting next to me, so was Corrie van Zyl and his wife.

MS BATOHI: From your experience with Mr Sanjay, who we will deal with later, he was an absolute pest and out to, well from your experience it would appear, that he made himself a pest and he was determined to get information or get you involved in match-fixing - let me rephrase that - he was essentially a pest, nagging you all the time, is that correct, he wouldn't leave you alone?

MR CRONJE: It didn't start off that way no, he was initially very understanding that I didn't want to get involved in influencing the result of a game, because he wanted to see us get into the final. I made him understand that we wanted to get into the final of this triangular One-day series, so he just phoned for a little bit of information. Because we lost in Durban, I made him understand that there is no way in South Africa that I was going to try to influence any game or any result. All that he got out of me in South Africa was the odd bit of information, for argument sake, if we get to East London, he would ask me what the sort of weather was like, what the pitch was like, that sort of thing, Ms Batohi.

MS BATOHI: You see, Mr Cronjé, what I find strange is that from all accounts these people, once they have you in their hands, so to speak, become very determined to make sure that they can get as much information from you, out of you as they possibly can, and they don't leave that easily. I just find it strange that the three people that you had met, the one that you had serious dealings with, would simply disappear from the scene after January 1997, not even try, well, not, well MK contacted you during the triangular series later, but they simply disappear from the scene after that, they knew you were approachable, they knew that you were one that they could do business with, yet you don't have any further approaches from them?

MR CRONJE: Ms Batohi, in the instance of MK and in the instance of Sanjay, I built up enough resistance to tell them that I don't want to further go on with any plans, any information, any dealings, whatsoever.

COMMISSIONER: What caused your change in attitude, what caused the change of mind, can you give me some idea?

MR CRONJE: I knew that what I was doing, was wrong.

MS BATOHI: What caused you to change your mind again, at the beginning of this year?

MR CRONJE: I knew that what I was doing was wrong, I phoned Hamied and told him that I don't want to speak to Sanjay ever again after the last match in India and I never spoke to Sanjay ever again in my life, after the telephone call the morning before the fifth One-day international.

MS BATOHI: I understand that, but you say that you had built up sufficient resolve and you decided didn't you, it was wrong, so why did that change at the end of January when you decided to deal with Mr Aronstam and then with Sanjay?

MR CRONJE: I have never been an alcoholic and I have never been addicted to nicotine, but I believe that it is very similar to an alcohol problem, that there are times when you give in to certain temptations and there are times when you have enough resistance to say no to it.

MS BATOHI: Just before I move on from there, the $30 000 cash that was given to you by MK, how did you get it out of India?

MR CRONJE: I took it out of India in a kitbag of mine, underneath some of my clothing that I had as hand luggage.

MS BATOHI: Did you bring that into South Africa before taking it through to the NatWest account, how did that work?

MR CRONJE: That is correct.

MS BATOHI: Was this amount ever declared at any stage?

MR CRONJE: No.

MS BATOHI: I am going to deal with the Centurion issue now. You testified about your meeting, or first the call you received from Mr Aronstam, did you, let me get this clear, did he phone you and then did you meet him in your room, is that correct, on the same night?

MR CRONJE: That is correct.

MS BATOHI: Mr Aronstam was a stranger to you and on your own evidence, you had not previously heard of or spoken to him as you state in paragraph 25, why were you prepared to invite him up to your room, or to agree to meet him at a later stage?

MR CRONJE: Mr Aronstam said to me that he was a cricket lover and he was interested in getting a match on at Centurion the following day and he had a suggestion and he wanted to meet me in my room.

MS BATOHI: Well, how is it that you were so easily convinced, anybody could have phoned you and said "I am a cricket lover, I would like to chat to you" and I am sure you would't entertain such calls, you probably get a lot of those calls. What caused you to take Mr Aronstam's call seriously?

MR CRONJE: Just to correct you, I do get a lot of those calls and I do entertain a lot of those calls, and I do speak to a lot of people, I try to be as friendly as I can to whoever calls me. There are obviously the odd occasion when you don't have the time, or you don't have the need to speak to somebody. Mr Aronstam said to me that he wanted to talk to me about the following day, that is why he wanted to come to my room.

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