The Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU) has agreed in principle to sell 25,1% of its shares to SA Rugby, a move that could effectively give the national body control over the floundering Southern Spears franchise.
The decision to sell the shares was made at a meeting held at the EPRU Stadium on Tuesday night.
However, the sale would be subject to certain conditions, the main one being that litigation between the Spears and Saru be settled out of court, officials said.
Both the Border and South Western Districts have already agreed to sell 25,1% of their shares to SA Rugby.
The national body is also apparently in negotiations with SA Investments Ltd (Sail) to buy 24,9% of their shares in each of the three unions.
This would give SA Rugby a 50% stake in each union, enabling it to appoint a board member to the Spears for each union, effectively giving their members a quorum to hold Spears meetings and take vital decisions on the franchise’s future.
At Tuesday evening’s meeting, EPRU legal adviser Danie Gouws advised union members to negotiate with SA Rugby over the current litigation and come to an out-of-court agreement.
SA Rugby last month was given leave to appeal against a High Court ruling that the Spears be allowed to take part in the Super 14 and Currie Cup competition next year. The case will be heard on November 23.
Gouws said EPRU should also discuss the sale agreement with the South Western District and Border unions.
He said he found that the written offer made by SA Rugby was ”highly irregular and suspicious”, but would not elaborate, saying only that EPRU needed a strong negotiating team that comprised union executives, senior rugby officials, legal representatives and accountants.
Gouws said it was important to ensure that the Supreme Court of Appeal case did not go ahead because if SA Rugby won the appeal it would have huge financial repercussions for the three unions that made up the Spears, as they would have to pay for the legal costs as well as the Spears’ debt.
EPRU president Pat de Silva said: ”We will agree to sign under new conditions. We are prepared to have discussions with Saru as soon as possible.”
Although De Silva did not want to go into details on the conditions, he said the main stipulation would be to settle the legal case between the Spears and SA Rugby before it went to court.
”EPRU does not want to send a negative message to SA Rugby. We see the benefits of working together.”
However, De Silva said the Spears should remain in the region, in the interests of the youth.
Vusumzi Boltina, from Motherwell Rugby Club in Port Elizabeth, said at the meeting SA Rugby wanted to ”dictate” what happens in the union and ”destroy” the Spears. — Sapa