Protest planned at Stormers game to have administrator removed
The Western Province Rugby Football Union is NEVER dull.
In fact, it is a great source of entertainment if you don’t have a vested interest in the union.
This week some clubs and former executive members were at their recreational best – with the formation of a new pressure group and threats of ‘protest action’ at the Stormers’ next home game, when they host the Sharks at the Cape Town stadium in a Round 15 United Rugby Championship match on March 4.
The ‘goal’ of the protests is the removal of the South African Rugby Union-appointed administrator Rian Oberholzer.
“The struggle is real,” starts one of several posts on social media.
“WPRFU administration must fall so that club rugby can survive in Cape Town,” the posts continue.
The self-serving ramblings of this fringe group – one of several who has constantly harassed Oberholzer since his appointment – make it clear their priority is NOT the URC-champion professional team, the Stormers.
The posts go on to express their “support” of the growing frustrations with the ongoing administration imposed by SARU on the WPRFU.
They make mention of a recent letter sent to member clubs by the administrator, explaining the current status in the wake of former Springbok captain Wynand Claassen’s heritage application.
The letter is a follow-up to the media briefing Oberholzer had in January to map out the way forward and deal with the heritage saga.
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The posts also attack SARU for their role in the ongoing administrative process.
“Their previous efforts in unions like Eastern Province, Border and Boland is public knowledge, so we know where WP is heading if we keep quiet,” one of the posts says of their opposition to SARU.
“The support SARU gave to a minority group of clubs under the guise of ‘whistle blowers’ confirmed their support to these clubs long before administration.”
The post concludes by quoting Martin Luther King Jr: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
This proposed protest action comes at a time when another new ‘pressure group’ – called WP Renew – emerged on the sidelines.
The group consists of mostly members of the louche collection of former WPRFU executive members – better known as the ExCo Five.
The group – then-vice-president Ronald Bantom, Reuben Riffel, Quintin van Rooyen, Mario Williams and Anele Zita – famously launched legal action against then-President Zelt Marais in the Cape High Court on 23 September 2021.
As a result, the quintet were subsequently charged with being in breach of the WPRFU’s codes of conduct by Marais.
The disciplinary process – initiated by Marais in October 2021, before the WPRFU was placed under administration by the South African Rugby Union – finally proceeded to a hearing on 9 April 2022.
The results of that protracted saga, the case against the group were released by the DC Chairman, Ricardo Collins, in May last year.
The charges against all five were dismissed.
However, closer scrutiny of the newly formed ‘WP Renew‘ WhatsApp group shows at least one name of the original ExCo Five is missing.
Van Rooyen confirmed to @rugby365com that he is no longer in contact with or in communication with anybody regarding WPRFU matters. He has moved across to Western Cape neighbours Boland.
Riffel, in turn, denied they are part of the planned protest rally at the Cape Town Stadium on March 4.
He added that they are employing a “wait-and-see” approach, as they are being largely ignored by the administration.
Riffel said the purpose of the newly-formed group is mainly “information sharing” and that their plans are “reactionary”.
@king365ed
@rugby365com
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