Andre Markgraaff, Mike Stofile and Theunie Lategan have resigned from the South African Rugby Union’s (Saru) management committee, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Wednesday.
Two more resignations are expected later in the day.
This follows the request on Tuesday by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), backed by Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile, that the whole committee step down.
Markgraaff was Saru’s deputy president, Stofile was vice-president and Theunie Lategan was chairperson. Two other committee members, Dolf van Huyssteen and Koos Basson, are expected to follow suit.
Only Saru president Brian van Rooyen is refusing to vacate his position.
Van Rooyen says elected officials cannot be arbitrarily dismissed without taking the constitution of SA Rugby into account.
Sascoc is expected to announce an interim committee to run SA Rugby later on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Markgraaff welcomed the minister’s call for a formal investigation into the management of the organisation.
However, Van Rooyen earlier on Tuesday brushed off the call for him and his executive to step down for the good of the game.
Saru said in a statement he had ”expressed regret” that the move came ”while an agreement was in place to resolve the current crisis in the organisation”.
The Sascoc call was announced and backed by Stofile hot on the heels of a meeting in which Van Rooyen came under fire from MPs for what they said was his lack of leadership.
It also followed months of damaging power struggles in the union, complicated by a row over the allocation of Super 14 franchises, and fuelled by the release of a dossier of alleged irregularities committed by Van Rooyen. — Sapa