The tug-of-war over the fifth Super 14 rugby franchise will be among the issues tabled at a pending judicial inquiry into allegations of corporate mismanagement within the South African Rugby Union (Saru), the Dispatch reported on Friday.
The franchise went to the South-Eastern Cape after a decision by an adjudication panel awarding it to the Free State Cheetahs was reversed.
Advocate Jannie Lubbe, a member of the International Rugby Board’s disciplinary committee who spearheads the investigation, confirmed that the circumstances surrounding the home of the franchise will be looked into.
According to an announcement in October, Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Lex Mpati and Lubbe will lead the investigation following intervention by Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile into rugby’s affairs.
Dissatisfied with the way rugby bosses responded to an earlier report on the alleged mismanagement, Stofile called for further evidence to be submitted to advocate Jan Heunis and attorney Adri Brand.
Following that, Western Province rugby boss Koos Basson, who is also chairperson of Saru’s legal committee, requested Saru’s president’s council to approve a new investigation by two independent lawyers.
All the complaints — including those by former Saru deputy president Andre Markgraaff and former president’s council chairperson Theunie Lategan — contained in the now infamous SA Rugby dossier as well as new allegations will be investigated.
Lubbe will lead the investigation, but Mpati is expected to appoint a retired judge to head the inquiry.
In April, Saru’s president’s council awarded the franchise to the Free State Cheetahs. In an April 30 letter to Saru president Brian van Rooyen, Lategan called for a rethink of the decision.
Lategan, Markgraaff, current vice-president Mike Stofile, former Blue Bulls president Dolf van Huyssteen and Basson were highly critical of the manner in which the adjudication panel had reached its earlier decision.
In a subsequent turnaround, the franchise was later awarded to Border, Eastern Province and South-Western Districts. — Sapa