South African Rugby Union (Saru) president Brian van Rooyen and three other top officials in the organisation face a possibly crippling blow to their leadership positions when a special general council meeting of SA Rugby is called within the next 10 days.
At that meeting, the positions of SA Rugby’s top brass will come under intense scrutiny — the management committee as well as the Saru presidency.
Should the election turn nasty — and heads are expected to roll — a complete overhaul of the top structures within South African rugby could be a reality by the end of the month.
Van Rooyen, along with Saru deputy president Andre Markgraaff, vice-president Mike Stofile and chairperson of the board Dr Theunie Lategan, have offered themselves as sacrificial lambs in a bid to stem the bloodletting that has bedevilled the sport in recent months.
These men have been at the centre of a public row that has split SA Rugby right down the middle, and until Wednesday have fiercely defended their positions.
The matter is no longer in their hands.
The move, though, is far from magnanimous and rather seems to have been enforced by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), which on Wednesday flexed its muscles. This shock announcement came after an intense day of talks between SA Rugby officials and Sascoc.
Van Rooyen got in the first punch on Tuesday already when he released a surprise confirmation of the Rainbow Cup, and thus has probably secured votes from many of the smaller unions who will be involved in that tournament.
Sascoc president Moss Mashishi was flanked by Van Rooyen and Lategan at the press conference, an ironic picture considering these two men had taken up staunch positions on different sides of the halfway line in recent weeks.
”There are clear and legitimate differences of opinion in the Manco [SA Rugby’s management committee] and those differences may inhibit the way forward,” said Mashishi.
”We have asked them to convene a special general council meeting where the positions of the senior officials will be reviewed.
Mashishi added that in the interim, SA Rugby will continue to be run by the current men in charge.
Other issues that were expected to be debated — among them the Super 14 franchise debacle — were apparently sidelined in order to settle the bitter squabble between the warring factions.
SA Rugby is also expected to hand its transformation charter to Sascoc as soon as possible.
”One of the issues we are particularly concerned about is the transformation and development,” said Mashishi.
”Those issues can only be resolved once a new Manco is in place. This meeting was decided upon to put it back to the people who put us in these positions in the first,” confirmed Lategan.
At the end of an exhausting day — the meeting lasted from 8am to about 5pm — no real progress was made, and only in 10 days’ time, at the very least, will the way forward be known. — Sapa