Bulls showed the way

REACTION: Sport Employees Unite (SEU), the representative trade union of non-playing staff in rugby, welcomed the announcement by the Western Province Professional Rugby Board to make changes to its governance and leadership in the company.

“Good corporate governance is critical for any business and the decision to separate the powers and functions of the union and the company of WP Rugby will go a long way to address this. The Bulls and the Blue Bulls Rugby Union have shown that by separating the two entities, clear roles and responsibilities are created which improve performance on and off the field”, says Piet Heymans, Chief Executive of SEU.

The co-option to the WP Board of Solly Moeng onto the Management Committee to ensure greater independent board member representativity is further good news for better corporate governance.

“The increase in the number of independent board members are important and we trust that all the directors will at all times act with their independence of mind in the best interest of WP Professional Rugby,” continues Heymans.

The increased focus on sustained and meaningful engagement with players, staff, sponsors, and the public are positively received and should provide clarity and direction on the way forward.

“Over the past few months, the WP staff felt uninformed as little or no communication was received and thus the intended engagement with all stakeholders including the staff going forward is welcomed as employees can only perform well on and off the field if they know what the plan is going forward”, says Heymans.

The appointment of a new separate company CEO for Western Province Professional Rugby is long overdue and will contribute to the improved day to day management of the company and will improve executive decision-making.

“The challenges of trying to manage a professional rugby business by committee has been exposed over the past few months and SEU is of the firm view that with the appointment of new separate CEO for the company the execution of the board strategies and decisions will improve significantly.

“It is not good for corporate governance if the CEO has to act in the best interests of both the shareholder and the company and many a time this resulted in major differences and disputes, which hopefully going forward will be something of the past”, concludes Heymans.