Suspended Western Province Rugby president Zelt Marais has condemned its administrator amid plans to restructure the ailing rugby union. Picture: File
Previously disadvantaged clubs affiliated with the embattled Western Province Rugby Football Union (WPRFU) have warned that their assets were “being stripped” by the organisation’s administrator without their approval.
Western Province’s general manager for amateur rugby, Danny Jones said community rugby clubs of WPRFU had given approval in 2019 for Newlands Rugby Stadium to be sold.
The province has 120 clubs, of which 92 are fully registered and have voting say. But a number of clubs in mostly poor communities, have objected to the process, saying they continue to be marginalised.
They have accused administrator Rian Oberholzer of acting without proper consultation. But Oberholzer said at least 60 clubs have given consent to proposed plans to help steer the organisation in a “correct path”.
A club insider, who cannot be named as they are not mandated to speak to media, said this was a lie which “borders on fraud, corruption and gross misrepresentations with regards to the assets of the community clubs being sold without the relevant approval of the clubs and its trustees as outlined in the WPRFU constitution”.
Sedick Crombie, spokesperson for a group of disgruntled clubs, said: “The clubs are not receiving any official feedback from the administrator or Saru.”
“Our sole request is that they send us official feedback ... there are a substantial amount of clubs that are unhappy, and rightfully so. Saru needs to address their concerns in an official statement. Some clubs are alluding that they are stripping the assets. What else are they supposed to think?”
The deals Crombie was referring to include the sale/redevelopment of Newlands Rugby Stadium and finding a suitable equity partner for the professional arm of the WPRFU that includes the Stormers rugby team.
“Our club is worse off than it was before the administration came to effect. We don’t have any say or rights. No one is consulting us,” said another member whose club was on the Cape Flats.
A copy the minutes from WPRFU’s 2019 general council meeting, seen by Weekend Argus also disproved the claim that community clubs were on board.
The minutes showed that what was approved was that the union enter into a 99 year lease with Investec.
There was written consent given by 60 community rugby clubs for the potential development of properties owned by WPRFU.
At the end of the lease period, the original plan was for the redeveloped Newlands Rugby Stadium to revert back to the community rugby clubs via WPRFU.
The clubs were against disposing of the assets, and specifically the fixed and or immovable properties as they wished to earn an annuity income “for the next 100 years or so”.
The only time the clubs approved the sale was in 2018 when it resolved to sell the Dulwich Parking and the Roodman House land for R20 million.
The sale was to partly pay for the outstanding Remgro debt that arose as a result of the liquidation of the Western Cape Province Rugby company that ran the business side of the organisation, in 2016. Remgro held 24.9% stake in the company.
The Western Province Professional Rugby entity was later formed to replace the liquidated company.
“The community rugby clubs are worried that their letters written to the administrator and Saru are neither being acknowledged nor being responded to,” said the union’s suspended president Zelt Marais.
The clubs said they were being kept in the dark and that they had not received “a single financial report” in the past 18 months from the administrator.
“The unlawfully appointed administrator cannot produce any court order of his appointment and authorization to sell off Newlands Rugby Stadium, nor can he produce any practice licence that he is authorised to practise as an administrator,” said another insider.
“The administrator is unable to provide the community rugby clubs with a copy of the 2019 supposed resolution that authorises him to sell Newlands Rugby Stadium that is owned by the community rugby clubs.”
Oberholzer hit back, saying the claims were untruthful. “They’re lying, I am not stripping any assets ... I am just doing my job which deals around the stadium.”
“(Around) 60 community rugby clubs gave the green-light for the potential development of properties owned by WPRFU ... this still needs to pass muster at a general council and or council meeting.”
Last weekend, a group of just over 50 picketers representing certain rugby clubs in WPRFU demonstrated outside the Cape Town Stadium against the continuing administration of the union by SA Rugby.
The representatives claim there was no transparency from Saru on what was happening around the administration and called for its termination.
Saru recently said that it was looking forward to ending the administration and later stated that Oberholzer would be its interim CEO, to replace Jurie Roux, until a permanent appointment is made.
Attempts to reach Jones for comment were unsuccessful.
Weekend Argus