Lions and Cats rugby supremo Jomo King died suddenly of a heart attack at his Johannesburg home on Tuesday morning. He was 55.
The president of the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu), Brian van Rooyen, has expressed his deep sympathy to the family and friends of King, following the sudden death of the Cats’ chairperson and Golden Lions president on Tuesday.
Van Rooyen said King’s death was a ”great loss to rugby and the effect will be particularly felt by the leadership of the Golden Lions”.
”I am feeling very devastated,” said Van Rooyen. ”He was a great man who was always helpful and very supportive. I have served under him as deputy president of the Golden Lions, and he was a great man. I am at a loss for words following this unfortunate incident.”
King died after a heart attack at his home in Johannesburg. A veteran of the University of Witwatersrand’s rugby, King served both as a player and rugby administrator for the university, before he joined the executive committee of Golden Lions Rugby Union.
”He was a rugby man all his life,” said Johan Prinsloo, CEO of Golden Lions. ”This is a great shock for us. It’s a sad loss.”
”He suffered a heart attack at his home at 2.30am this morning,” George Stainton, a close friend of King and CEO of Ellis Park, said.
King was very active and regularly competed in the Duzi canoe marathon and played rugby for Wits until deep into his forties.
His family said they were proud of him and were always fascinated by his love for rugby.
”He played rugby till the age of 48,” said his wife, Pat.
For years, he served Sarfu as a member of the executive committee and a director of SA Rugby.
He leaves behind his wife, Pat, and twins Nicole and Evan. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.
King’s deputy at the Golden Lions, current Sarfu president Van Rooyen, will be acting as president of the union in the meantime.
The union also lost its deputy president, Prof Johan Gouws, earlier this year.
King was a director of a mining company, Metorex, and a member of the Sarfu executive. — Sapa