OPINION – SARU SACOS LEGENDS
The following article has been compiled by Mark Fredericks on request of the SARU SACOS Legends (SSL) organisation.
SARU SACOS Legends (SSL)
alleges a malaise of nepotism plaguing SARU rugby.
By Mark Fredericks
The tragedy of the South African ‘unity’ deception, is that people have fallen for the lie that:
- Unity in sport has been achieved and,
- Racism (in sport) has been defeated and we live in a non-racial democracy.
The careful management of the ‘SARU’ in the post-unity era, has seen Nelson Mandela pass the baton of sporting deception very smoothly to Siya Kolisi, while the roots of the game decay and die out.
The management of the Springbok brand is the primary focus of SA Rugby with ‘bringing home the gold’, a close second.
The sacrifice of Allister Coetzee on the altar of ‘transformation’ is an example of the type of games that are being played behind closed doors.
It is difficult to feel entirely sorry for Coetzee, because at the height of his playing career under the REAL South African Rugby Union, he had already expressed a desire to be part of the springbok set up.
That Coetzee was used as a pawn in order to pave the way for the springbok messiah to enter the gates of South Africa’s rugby Jerusalem cannot be denied. Coetzee was a handcuffed coach who could not even choose his own support staff.
Coetzee, was a public character execution of the abilities and capabilities of the REAL South African Rugby Union.
A bright light posessing breath-taking rugby talent, Coetzee possessed everything needed to make it to the very top of the rugby pile, but he played during the twilight of the SACOS era. It was Coetzee as bok coach, who was placed in the spotlight of the rugby world and who was forced into failure.
His departure was the final nail in the casket of the South African Rugby Union as had existed under the umbrella of SACOS, and it heralded the resurrection of the South African Rugby Board under the moniker of SARU.
To be quite frank, his predecessor, Peter De Villiers had done nothing wrong as a coach, and was probably too successful for the rugby powers, and he was allowed to keep both feet firmly planted in his mouth.
SA Rugby’s ever-present media liaison officers were conspicuously absent during the De Villiers era.
After De Villiers, it was Coetzee who assumed duty as Bok coach in 2016, and in the words of Kobus Wiese:
“I really pity Allister, he was set up to fail. I don’t know why, but if I look at what they’ve given him it cannot work, it’s impossible. It seems nobody takes responsibility. The whole circus around how Coetzee was appointed was disastrous from day one. If you look at his support team – who are they? Where do they come from? What kind of experience do they have at international level? Zero. Nothing.”(Joffe, Graeme, 2019)
The unity process and later, the assumption of the name of SARU in 2005/6 was not a sign of any commitment to transformation, rather it was a way of absolving the springbok of its historically racist taint.
The primary focus of the SA Rugby management, is as has been previously stated, the protection of the brand – especially from its own history.
Rassie Erasmus assumed duty as coach of the springboks following Allister Coetzee’s reign of failure, and was given unprecedented powers. Not only was his lawyer allegedly SARU’s lawyer (Feltham, Luke, 2018), but Rassie also shared business interests with Jurie Roux (Muller, Antoinette, 2016).
When examining the corrupt flesh of the springbok, one cannot only look at recent events such as the misappropriation of ZAR37 million (Ray, 2021), or the convenient appointment of Rassie Erasmus after the disastrous Coetzee tenure and the glaring conflicts of his contract (Joffe, Graeme, 2019). Any examination of the nepotism within the Bok system has to consider the type of nepotism SA Rugby engages in.
The bonds of Springbokdom creates a band of dishonourable brothers for whom winning at all costs is the only thing that matters.
SA Rugby corruption has to look at the acquisition of the hosting rights for the 1995 Rugby World Cup Tournament – this examination is key to understanding why it was so important for ‘SARFU’ to totally collapse township rugby structures and do away with their histories.
It also merits deeper interrogation of the 1995 RWC tournament because of the US$550 million windfall that fattened the coffers of SANZAR. It was Louis Luyt who convinced New Zealand and Australia to accept a smaller share of the pot, because, according to Luyt ‘we have development issues to attend to’ (Rea, Chris, 1995).
Exactly how much of the US$550 million ‘SARFU’ received was never disclosed to the public, but instead of ‘attending to the development issues’, SA Rugby embarked on a process of professionalising the game away from the townships.
The 1995 RWC was also the last time that the SABC screened rugby, because Luyt and Multichoice had already secured the TV rights deal one year before (Jonker, Schalk, 2012).
Springbok rugby nepotism transcends the practice of creative financial thinking, but it also keeps it all in the Bok family when nominating names for the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
The sheer arrogant thinking of the Bok hierarchy that the Springbok blazer is the pinnacle of South African rugby achievement, completely rubbishes the struggles of the SARU affiliates and members who fought injustice under the banner of SACOS.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who understands what the sporting struggle was all about, that very few, if any springbok greats, could ever be considered for SARU SACOS honours. The Bok flesh is far too corrupt.
The celebrations of the triumph of an unprecedented fourth World Cup trophy, has served notice of the unworthiness of black rugby history. All rugby history in South Africa, has to be measured and vetted by the nepotistic standard of the springbok.
Academics and sports writers alike, fold like a deck of cards when faced with the glorious countenance of the splendid springbok, as they scramble like loose forwards at a maul in their efforts to place their narratives within the framework of the springbok system. A system that has always served only very narrow interests.
Therefore, people who express surprise or shock at allegations of improper conduct, or nepotism within SA Rugby structures, are people who only look at the scoreboard. They have never looked at the shenanigans on the peripheries of the playing fields, nor have they considered the unknown, nameless sweepers who cleared Kings Park of flood waters, ensuring that the boks would progress to the final in 1995 (Retief, Dan, 2015).
With the Ireland test series looming, SA Rugby shareholders and executives greedily lick their lips in anticipation of nepotistic benefits. Newspapers exploded over the weekend as news of alleged family ties to the organisation of the Irish test series emerged.
The company responsible for managing the test series, AMS – Access Management Services, is run by the son of returning CEO of SA Rugby, Riaan Oberholzer (Rugby365, 2024). Riaan Oberholzer, it should be remembered, is the son-in-law of the late former SA Rugby Boss, Louis Luyt, and their shenanigans go back a long way (Bauer, Katy, 1996).
In the fetid smog of corruption and scandal, the Springbok remains untainted. The brand management takes precedence over the management of morality and transparency.
In a recent article, Jon Cherry proposed that the Springbok rugby system has ‘become a blueprint for the future of the country’ (Cherry, Jon, 2024).
What the writer fails to recognise, is that the Springbok system mirrors the political system almost exactly. In between elections, the ruling party delivers nothing but crude pageantry in parliament while siphoning the coffers of the country dry.
The Springboks, similarly, do nothing for grassroots development, and plough everything into ‘bringing home the gold’.
The Springboks prefer to push their brand down the throats of every living television watching organism on the planet – going so far as to spend ZAR1.3 million on professional fans (Mtembu, Xolile, 2024) instead of doing real development.
The Boks are a placebo prescribed in place of the bitter pill of real development and social reconstruction of a broken society. Over 600,000 South Africans have been murdered between 1994 and 2022 (Kriegler, Anine and Shaw, Mark, 2016)[1], and the glow of four world cup trophies cannot overpower the stain of the blood soaking South Africa’s soil.
The nepotism of focusing only on the Bok family bloodline, is comparable to the nepotism of cadre deployment, where the bloodline of the party overrules any obligation to the constituents of the country.
At the end of this month, people will line up to take part in a near fruitless exercise and they will sing and dance with joy when their team wins, but the real work will remain undone because the will to be a nation was destroyed when the Springboks were liberated in 1992.
It is right and proper for people to have hope for the future, but that hope must have a basis in reality. After 30 years of nepotistic rule, the country has been bankrupted to a point of no-return.
The term ‘nepotism’ is rooted in the history of the illegitimate sons of 16th century popes, who bestowed special privileges on the bastards, in order to buy their compliance and silence.
Look at SA Rugby and decide who has been compliant and silent since the era of unity. There are thousands of community structures in rugby, languishing in neglect and squalor, just as there are millions of community members without basic services and dignity.
Nepotism is just a very visible gesture on the part of those in power, to show the other family members, who they deem to be important and who they deem to be superfluous to the family brand.
Mark Fredericks
14 May 2024
Citations
Bauer, Katy, 1996. Controversy rules in court of King Louis. The Mail & Guardian. URL https://mg.co.za/article/1996-09-20-controversy-rules-in-court-of-king-louis/
(accessed 5.15.24).
Cherry, Jon, 2024. Rugby has become unlikely blueprint for future united nation [WWW Document]. Daily Maverick. URL https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2024-04-25-rugby-once-epitome-of-societal-division-has-become-unlikely-blueprint-for-future-united-nation/
(accessed 4.27.24).
Feltham, Luke, 2018. Saru ethics take glint off Rassie hire. The Mail & Guardian. URL https://mg.co.za/article/2018-03-09-00-saru-ethics-take-glint-off-rassie-hire/
(accessed 5.14.24).
Joffe, Graeme, 2019. Sport: Greed & Betrayal. Graeme Joffe.
Jonker, Schalk, 2012. Blades of Glory. SA Sports Illustrated.
Kriegler, Anine, Shaw, Mark, 2016. A Citizens Guide to Crime Trends in South Africa. Jonathan Ball Publishers, Jeppestown, Johannesburg.
Mtembu, Xolile, 2024. Netizens divided over ‘privileges’ afforded to superfans like ‘Mama Joy’ [WWW Document]. URL https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/netizens-divided-over-privileges-afforded-to-superfans-like-mama-joy-3e63b2fb-dcd3-4fbb-8dd3-f6214fd6d8c5 (accessed 4.17.24).
Muller, Antoinette, 2016. Op-Ed: SARU desperately needs a forensic audit [WWW Document]. Daily Maverick. URL https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-02-25-op-ed-saru-desperately-needs-a-forensic-audit/
(accessed 5.14.24).
Ray, C., 2021. ARBITRATION BATTLE: SA Rugby boss Jurie Roux ordered to pay back R37m to Stellenbosch University after losing appeal [WWW Document]. Daily Maverick. URL https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-12-10-sa-rugby-boss-jurie-roux-ordered-to-pay-back-r37m-to-stellenbosch-university-after-losing-appeal/
(accessed 10.3.22).
Rea, Chris, 1995. A deal to shake the world; Rupert Murdoch’s contract with the southern hemisphere will usher in a new age for rugby union | The Independent | The Independent [WWW Document]. URL https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/a-deal-to-shake-the-world-rupert-murdoch-s-contract-with-the-southern-hemisphere-will-usher-in-a-new-age-for-rugby-union-1588193.html
(accessed 7.5.22).
Retief, Dan, 2015. When Boks held off Le Bleus in the wet [WWW Document]. SA Rugby magazine. URL https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/when-boks-held-off-le-bleus-in-the-wet/ (accessed 11.15.23).
Rugby365, 2024. SA Rugby sets record straight amid nepotism allegations [WWW Document]. URL https://rugby365.com/countries/saru-addresses-nepotism-allegations/
(accessed 5.15.24).
[1] The figures from 2016 through to 2023 have been added to the figures provided by the Kriegler and Shaw.
