Angella Johnson
There is much less of Louis Luyt these days – 18kg to be precise. The beleaguered rugby boss was in defiant, if slightly subdued mood, as he confessed to a room of Johannesburg businessmen that the pressures facing him had led to rapid weight loss.
Just hours before he was expected to face a crucial meeting of the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) executive to resolve a row over his future as their leader, Luyt was building his fragile laager.
“No man is my master and I bow to no man, only to God. My resolve has not changed,” he said, evoking an image of PW Botha’s recent resistance to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in a George court.
But there was a tinge of weariness in Luyt’s voice as he tried to project the Afrikaner’s fighting spirit in face of mounting national and international pressures for him to abdicate.
“I’m buoyant,” he told the Mail & Guardian without much conviction, when asked how events were affecting him. “I certainly don’t intend to resign at the meeting later today.”
The National Sports Council (NSC) has demanded that Luyt resign or face the prospect of international isolation and mass action. The NSC has accused Sarfu of mismanagement, racism and nepotism.
Luyt accuses it of conspiring with government to take control of rugby now that he’s made it profitable.
Ironically, this once powerful “King of Rugby” who was said to rule over his domain like a dictator, was introduced by Nigel Bruce – editor of Finance Week – as “a white knight” defending individual freedom under the constitution.
Quoting extensively from nu- merous judges and international human rights judgments, Luyt took on the mantle of champion of the underdog facing down dominance by the mighty and powerful.
He described President Nelson Mandela’s decision to appoint a commission of inquiry into Sarfu’s doings as draconian, unconstitutional and against fundamental human rights.
“It is tragic and humiliating that I have had to endure the kind of abuse one has to go through in this kind of procedure … This commission was not about Sarfu, it was about Louis Luyt. About someone who is in the way,” he complained.
Then, to applause from the virtually all-white audience, he waved his lance before opponents: “I intend to be in the way for a long time, whether it is within rugby or without.”
Later, in a more plaintive tone he signalled the enormity of the task ahead. “I hope I have enough strength to leave the scene when I want to.”
He went on to list his contribution to turning South African rugby into a financially successful media product, worth almost R2-billion in broadcast rights alone over the next decade.
It had been a less than sparkling performance and Luyt seemingly failed to win over many of the rugby-loving crowd in Thursday’s audience, who even as they acknowledged his role in building the game, now believe he is swimming against the tide.
Public relations executive Jenni Newman, of Fajedemi Newman Leo Burnett – whose father once worked with Luyt – said it was not in his nature to back down. “He might have had he been gently prodded, but the man’s a fighter when his back is against the wall.”
Taco Kuiper, of the Investors’ Guide, said that had Luyt stepped down graciously after winning his court battle, he could have defused the current situation. “As it is, what I’ve heard from him this morning is a lot of hot air and very little substance.”
When it was all over Luyt and a couple of flunkies were left wandering the hotel lobby in search of a lift. “Where is my wife with the car? It looks like she’s abandoned me,” he said in jest. But perhaps it reflected deeper fears of abandonment.