Oberholzer on WPRFU's debt: 'There is support and impatience'

SPOTLIGHT: SARU's designated Administrator for the Western Province Rugby Football Union, Rian Oberholzer, says there is some impatience when it comes to money that is owed to Flyt/Dreamworld.

However, Oberholzer revealed that they are also getting support from the property investment group.

The Flyt/Dreamworld group – who holds bonds on all the WPRFU properties – are sitting back and watching interest grow on the loan of ZAR112-million they gave to WPRFU to pay off previous loans from Remgro and Investec.

To settle that debt, the WPRFU was banking on the sale of the Newlands Rugby Stadium. But that has been delayed due to former Springbok captain Wynand Claassen’s bid in June to have the stadium declared a heritage site.

"We have to thank the people from Flyt/Dreamworld, who have been so patient with us," said Oberholzer.

"I went to see them and they made it very clear that they will not use their claims that they have on the properties that will make it impossible for us to take it further.

"But they are also getting impatient and we have to understand that.

"There has been a helluva lot of support towards the process from Flyt and Dreamworld.

"They have not been the ogres that some have portrayed them to be in rugby circles.

"They really want us to be successful in the development of the stadium."

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The longer it takes to sell the stadium, the more money SARU and the WPRFU will have to fork out.

"There are interests that are being incurred. We still have some expenses around the stadium that we have to take care of so it is costing us money unfortunately," Oberholzer explained.

"We have to bare it and hopefully we can come to some kind of a conclusion around this."

Oberholzer said it was imperative that the Western Province Rugby Football Union stand on its own two feet again.

"If you look at what happened in the UK with Wasps, I think their demise came around a property deal, a stadium.

"They didn’t have the benefit of the RFU [Rugby Football Union] intervening.

"The RFU just left them on their own.

"We are lucky that SA Rugby realises the importance of the Western Province Rugby Football Union and that they intervened and I am sitting here for that matter.

"But remember they cannot continuously fund the WPRFU.

"The selling of the stadium is of utmost importance to the future of the WPRFU."