Johannesburg [South Africa], August 21 (ANI): Former South African cabinet minister Trevor Manuel has been appointed chair of the 2027 Cricket World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC) board on Thursday, according to ESPNcricinfo.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) unveiled a 15-member board, which consists of two provincial presidents, a CSA board member, seven independent directors, two appointees made by the South African ministry and three CSA executives, including CEO Pholetsi Moseki.

The Local Organising Committee will carry out the task of the roll-out of the flagship tournament, which is being co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

South Africa's former deputy president, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and industry leaders in banking and business, such as Nomfanelo Magwentshu, who served as the chief operating officer of the 2010 Football World Cup hosted in South Africa, feature among the independent directors.

'We deliberately went with a lot of independents in order to bring in a variety of skills. The operational matters will be covered from within the CSA perspective,' Rihan Richards, CSA's members council president, said at a press conference in Johannesburg, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

Trevor Manuel, who was a part of South Africa's first democratically elected parliament, has served as minister of trade and industry, minister of finance and minister in the presidency. Along with this, he has also been involved in several business endeavours. However, his upcoming stint as the chair of the tournament's LOC board is his first in sports.

'I've done many different things in my life. Sports administration is not one of them. Trying to do this late in my life is not easy for me. We have seven independent non-executive directors, two of whom served on the LOC for 2010, very good legal people, strong financial people and representatives of the minister and the presidency. We must make that commitment to South Africa, to sport, to the durability of the exercise. This is a nation-building exercise,' he said at a press conference in Johannesburg.

Johannes Adams from Western Province and Yunus Bobat from Kwa-Zulu Natal will act as the provincial presidents. As part of the 2027 World Cup upgrades project, Newlands will receive new floodlights. According to ESPNcricinfo, along with Wanderers, SuperSport Park and Kingsmead, Newlands will make use of drop-in pitches, which are in development.

2027 World Cup LOC: Trevor Manuel, Independent Chair

CSA members' council and board appointmentsJohannes Adams, President of Western Province (non-independent)Yunus Bobat, President of Kwa-Zulu Natal (non-independent)Vuyani Jarana, (CSA Board member - non-independent)

Ministry Appointments:Advocate Philip October, Non-Independent DirectorUnathi Matthew Tshotwana, Non-Independent Director

Independent Directors:Herman Bosman, Independent Non-Executive DirectorNomfanelo Magwentshu, Independent Non-Executive DirectorDr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Independent Non-Executive DirectorRavi Naidoo, Independent Non-Executive DirectorDr Stavros Nicolaou, Independent Non-Executive DirectorAdvocate Karrisha Pillay SC, Independent Non-Executive Director

CSA staff:Pholetsi Moseki CSA CEORefentse Shinners, CSA Public Affairs ExecutiveTjaart van der Walt, CSA COO. (ANI)