SARU Equity deal: 'Jurie Roux still a consultant'

PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY: The scourge of former Chief Executive Officer Jurie Roux continues to hang over the South African Rugby Union like a dark cloud.

The involvement of Roux in the proposed equity deal with the Ackerley Sports Group was the biggest sticking point during a briefing of the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture.

The briefing, chaired by Joe McGluwa, took place just two days before a special general council of SARU will meet to vote on the US$75-million (ZAR1.3-billion) equity deal with the American-based equity consortium – trading under the banner of ‘Win-by-1’.

It was confirmed by SARU that Roux remains a ‘consultant’ on SARU’s books, despite ‘stepped down’ (some would suggest he was pushed to the exit door) in December 2022.

Roux held the position of SARU CEO for 10 years.

Even though he will, according to SARU, not receive any commission and is only ‘advising’ current CEO Rian Oberholzer, his involvement raised serious objections.

Advocate Shameemah Salie, one of the more vocal members of the Portfolio Committee, made it clear she is strongly opposed to Roux’s ongoing involvement in SARU’s business.

She also claimed that she is opposed to the deal with ASG/Win-by-1.

SARU, led by President Mark Alexander, defended Roux’s involvement and said a ‘social and ethics committee looked’ at Roux’s appointment and the potential conflict of interest of other executive members.

They suggested Roux ‘is not involved in concluding any deals’.

There was also some vigorous questioning from committee member Liam Jacobs, who said he supports them but needed more detail on the deal.

Other points raised during the grilling of SARU include:
* The Springbok brand is not on par with All Blacks and does not demand the same monetary value on the international market.
* SARU insisted the ASG/Win-by-1 agreement is loan deal. However, this was questioned by committee members.
* The introduction fee/commission of former Formula One boss Eddie Jordan has apparently reduced his fee to ‘nearly half’ of the original asking price.
* The shareholder (ASG/Win-by-1) can’t extract a cent from the deal until SARU’s costs are paid.
* Repayments to ASG/Win-by-1 are ‘complicated’, but the cost base of SARU must first be serviced.
* It could take as much as 10 to 15 years before the investor will see a cent.
* It was also revealed that SARU is currently only a ‘break-even. business.
* SARU currently has no cash reserves.
* The COVID-19 ‘pandemic’ has put SARU on the brink of bankruptcy.
* There are domestic companies interested and an alternative offer is on the table, but SARU did not confirm if Johan Rupert’s Remgro group and Springbok Schalk Burger (snr) are those who showed interest.
* The emblem and colours – the Green and Gold – of the Springboks won’t change, ever, and remains the property of SARU.

@king365ed
@rugby365com

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