Zelt Marais (Shaun Roy/Gallo Images)
Zelt Marais has beaten Peter Jooste to be named the new president of the Western Province Rugby Football Union (WPRFU).
At the end of what would prove to be a dramatic day, Marais was voted in at Monday night’s AGM having won the majority of the support from the clubs in the region.
Marais replaces the outgoing Thelo Wakefield, who has served as president for the last six years.
Monday had dished up a fair amount of controversy in the build-up to the AGM, with the elections thrown into doubt when vice-president hopeful Ronald Bantom applied for an emergency court interdict to have them postponed.
Bantom had taken issue with the fact that he had been suspended from standing in the elections.
After the matter had spent hours in the high court, it was eventually ruled that the elections would go ahead as planned and that Bantom would remain suspended.
Moneeb Levy, meanwhile, was voted in as deputy president, while Spencer King was elected vice-president unopposed after Bantom’s suspension.
Zacks has thanked outgoing president Thelo Wakefield for his services to the union, saying he looks forward “to forming a close partnership going forward with Zelt Marais as the new president” in a press statement.
Wakefield, who is now set to take over as chairperson of the union’s president’s fund, added: “It has been a pleasure to serve the WPRFU for the last 28 years and especially the last six years as president. I have given my all for this union and will cherish the memories made during my term of office.”
Wakefield’s successor Marais has served as a WPRFU executive committee member for 12 years and was deputy president of the union for the last two years.
The WPRFU Executive Committee is as follows:
President: Zelt Marais
Deputy president: Moneeb Levy
Vice president: Spencer King (unopposed)
Additional members: Peter Jooste, Nadeema Khan, Kevin Kiewietz, Junaid Moerat, Reuben Riffel, Quintin van Rooyen, Mario Williams and Anele Zita — Sport24