NEWS
SCHEDULES
COLUMNS
PREVIOUS TOURS
OTHER SPORTS
STATISTICS
INTERVIEWS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Cassim's June 26 testimony

MS BATOHI: Well, what was agreed between you and Mr Chawla about what was going to happen the next day when he left for Durban that evening?

MR CASSIM: When he left for Durban that evening I told him I will meet him the next day, I will give him an introduction to Hansie and whoever the other players were.

MS BATOHI: Please can you explain this to me, Mr Cassim? Why were you prepared to fly down to Durban the following day to introduce this stranger to Mr Cronjé?

MR CASSIM: Like I say, like we discussed it earlier, he was talking to me on the phone and he wanted to meet Mr Cronjé. With the goodness of my heart, I've realised today that I don't just do this for anybody -- and I won't introduce anyone to anyone again because what has happened in this - in the light of this match-fixing investigation. But when I took Sanjay there he wanted to meet Hansie, speak to him about cricket and the love of the game.

MS BATOHI: I'm just going to ask you this one more time, Mr Cassim. You had a business to run, you obviously had a lot of other commitments. You have a stranger flying in and here you're prepared to get on to a plane, fly down to Durban simply to introduce him to Mr Cronjé. Is that really what you want this Commission to believe, that you had no other involvement in this entire affair?

MR CASSIM: I can definitely tell you I never had any involvement in this entire affair, Adv Batohi.

COMMISSIONER: Can you tell me this? We heard in evidence from Mr Cronjé that he was very approachable by members of the public, he made himself available in his room and wherever people wanted to make contact, and that was obviously your experience too, as far as Hansie was concerned, he was a - you could get through to him quite easily apparently.

MR CASSIM: That's correct.

COMMISSIONER: Well, didn't the thought occur to you that it would have been much easier, and just as effective, if you'd phoned Hansie and said to him, 'Hansie, there's a chap who is coming out from England. He's very keen to meet you, he's a cricket enthusiast like me. If I tell him to make contact with you at the Beverley Hills, where I think he happens to be staying, will you see him?' Why did you have to go all the way down to sit in on a 10 minutes conversation, and then go all the way back to Johannesburg? It's just - I don't think even generous people, like yourself Mr Cassim, behave that way. That's what worries me.

MR CASSIM: I can understand that I should have done that, I should have just called Hansie and said, 'Look, meet this guy.' But it was a one-day match, I thought I'd probably I'd also stay over and see the match, but due to business commitments and family commitments, I had to cone back.

COMMISSIONER: But precisely those business commitments and family commitments that would have suggested that you shouldn't have gone at all.

MR CASSIM: That's correct.

MS BATOHI: And then dealing with the actual meeting with Sanjay in his room at the Beverley Hills hotel. Is there any particular reason why you and Sanjay didn't go up to Mr Cronjé's room?

MR CASSIM: No.

MS BATOHI: You then, in paragraph 18 of your statement, state that there was a conversation between Hansie Cronjé and Sanjay, and my learned friend Mr Manca has dealt with this at length, but I'm going to deal with just one or two aspects of this. In the paragraph before that you make it quite clear that you had been watching a provincial game of cricket, which was being shown on the TV. Okay?

MR CASSIM: That's correct.

MS BATOHI: Now this conversation only took place about 10 minutes, that's between Sanjay and Hansie Cronjé. Is that correct?

MR CASSIM: That's correct.

MS BATOHI: And you state in paragraph 8.18 that they were talking inter alia about: "Match forecasting, pitch conditions, team selection, the conditions upon winning the toss. They were further discussing the number of runs in one-day international matches. I also heard them discussing team selection, who would be batting, in which order and who would be bowling." You confirm all of that?

MR CASSIM: Correct.

MS BATOHI: Now it seems like that 10 minute conversation must have covered all of that. You must have heard everything they were talking about.

MR CASSIM: Not everything, but probably the 10 minutes would have related to everything.

MS BATOHI: Because there's a lot of things that you heard in 10 minutes. Now I want you to tell this court - I beg your pardon, this Commission, you broadly say 'forecasting'. What were they saying about forecasting?

MR CASSIM: I'm not a betting man, I'm not a gambler, but what I realised forecast, putting what the scores they were going to score, who would probably win.

MS BATOHI: I'm not talking about what it could probably mean. Just listen to my question. What were they talking about forecasting? You in your statement say they were talking about forecasting. Now what were they saying about forecasting?

MR CASSIM: Can't tell you what they were saying there, Adv Batohi.

MS BATOHI: What were they saying about pitch conditions?

MR CASSIM: Well, Hansie would tell him the pitch - this pitch is fine, but I - let's say there were play hypo - they were playing probably at King's Park.

MS BATOHI: I don't want to talk hypothetically, probably where they were playing. I want to know what they were talking about pitch conditions. Nobody was talking hypothetically, I take it. They were talking about pitch conditions. Now, what were they saying?

Click here for more....