South Africa's sports ministry and cricket federation will hold a review into their team's failure following another knockout stage defeat at the World Cup.
Sports minister Fikile Mbalula said Sunday his ministry would meet with Cricket South Africa officials in the first week of April, ironically around the same time as the World Cup final in India, after the Proteas continued a dismal run in crucial games at the event with a quarterfinal loss to New Zealand.
"Let us draw lessons to be learned from this painful experience," Mbalula said. "We believe we owe it to the nation to provide a well-researched review of the results of our participation in the championship (World Cup)."
Team manager Mohammed Moosajee said CSA would also hold its own "debrief and review" and conceded, along with outgoing coach Corrie van Zyl, that the team may have been affected by its underachieving past at the World Cup.
South Africa has lost every one of the five knockout games it has played at the top 50-over tournament, dating back to its debut in 1992.
"We have to accept that maybe the burden of previous generations remains with us," Moosajee said.
Van Zyl, who decided before the tournament that he would be stepping down as coach, apologised to fans for the disappointing exit but said the players had carried an "extra burden" after being constantly reminded of past failures.
"We're just putting extra pressure on them," Van Zyl said. "I think we sometimes make the issue bigger and by doing that we don't help the team.
"Opposition teams sometimes use the word 'chokers' and that is for one reason and that is to get us mentally. It happens on the field, actually. I'm not saying cover it up. Deal with the fact, but we can deal with the fact by being more positive."
South African cricket is now preparing for a new start without Van Zyl and Graeme Smith, who resigned as one-day captain. Smith also made the decision to step down before the World Cup.
In a statement, Cricket South Africa said it was already planning "the way forward" and had put in place the processes to choose a new ODI captain and coach.
Smith was not present at the news conference at an airport hotel, having requested permission to travel to Europe following the World Cup, but Van Zyl tried to describe the players' feelings following the defeat to New Zealand.
"It's very hard to explain. You've got to be there to understand the mood and the disappointment the players went through," Van Zyl said. "All we said and I said to the team afterwards is 'I know it hurts and it's going to hurt for a long time.'
"But I believe there's a new team culture in the South African team. There's no question in my mind that this team will be No. 1 in the future and will win the World Cup."
