Smith and current head coach MarkBoucher were among a number of CSA employees implicated in "tentativefindings" made by the Social Justice and Nation Building Ombudsman lastyear into alleged discrimination within the sport"s national governingorganisation in the past.
Boucher has been accused of racism byformer team mate Paul Adams and of sidelining his former assistant coach EnochNkwe. He denies both allegations and will face a CSA disciplinary hearing oncharges of gross misconduct next month.
The panel concluded that there was noevidence that Smith, also a former captain of the national side, raciallydiscriminated against former player Thami Tsolekile between 2012 and 2014, orthat he was biased against Black leadership at CSA.
It added that there was no merit in theallegation that Smith favoured Boucher over Nkwe during the selection processfor head coach in 2019.
"The manner in which these issueshave been dealt with... confirms CSA"s commitment to deal with the SJN issuesin a manner that treats them with utmost seriousness but also ensures fairness,due process and finality," said Lawson Naidoo, chair of the CSA board.
"Now that finality on theseprocesses has been reached, it is appropriate to recognise the extraordinarycontribution that Graeme has made to South African cricket."
The 41-year-old Smith"s tenure asdirector of cricket ended at the end of last month.
