Zelt says 'SAROUX' wants to capture WPRFU

By Jan de Koning

Friday 18 Mar 2022

NEWLANDS UPDATE: Suspended Western Province Rugby Football Union President Zelt Marais is taunting the South African Rugby Union and charging full-steam ahead with plans to host a meeting with clubs at Newlands on Monday.

Marais, who mockingly calls the national body SAROUX, is adamant that he is the legitimate President of WPRFU.

This, despite his union being placed under administration in October last year - resulting in Marais and his entire executive being suspended, according to Clause 29 of the constitution - and Marais' term of office having expired at the end of November.

Without any election, the union currently has no President or executive.

However, this has not stopped Marais from calling on clubs to come to support him at Monday's meeting.

And the Jurie Roux saga - which was front and centre at a parliamentary briefing this week - is at the heart of Marais' attack on the national body.

"The saga of SAROUX (SARU) has now reached both farcical and catastrophic heights," Marais starts his latest communiqué with the clubs.

He states in his circular, using lots of legal jargon, that decisions by SARU show that it "well and truly wants to CAPTURE the WPRFU".

"After a deafening silence, we are told that Jurie Roux is appealing a finding that, by law, is unappealable, and doing so under the guise of a 'review'.

"This we hear by way of SAROUX on the Ides of March 2022, a day before it is scheduled to appear before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee and provide answers to various aspects of its administration.

"It is therefore clear that it has to have its ducks in a row and the most pressing such is its position on Jurie Roux."

Marais goes on to question the legitimacy of the decision by Roux's legal team, to file for a 'review' of the arbitration process in which he was ordered to pay back ZAR37-million.

He also rambles on about the timing of Roux's appeal and gives his impression of how the review process can possibly play out.

* Marais' letter will be published in full below!

"For four solid months nothing is heard and because of the pressure caused by WPRFU and the looming Parliamentary Portfolio Committee hearing, we receive the bizarre news of a review having been filed at the Cape High Court, on the advice of his 'eminent' legal team," Marais says.

"A number of questions arise:

* Was this clearly impermissible document filed on Stellenbosch University as well as the jurists who handled the hearings, as it should be?

* If so what has been the stance and attitude of said jurists and University to the 'review', for it is clearly legal nonsense?

* Where can a copy of such review be obtained, for it is certainly newsworthy considering that such documents cannot be sustained by Law.

"SAROUX commits another faux pas by telling the South African public that the review application seeks to review both the findings of the original arbitration panel and the Appeal Tribunal.

"Any basic practitioner of the Law will tell you that this is not possible and is utter nonsense. Once the findings of the Arbitration panel has

been appealed, as it was (and on specific agreed terms of reference) it cannot be later reviewed.

"THE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW TWO BITES AT THE CHERRY.

"So why does SAROUX announce such legal nonsense to the South African Public, because it has been possibly trading in dishonesty for a long time AND could possibly still doing so, and because it is DESPERATELY tempting to keep Roux alive and kicking.

"WPRFU does not care what SAROUX wants to do, as long as it does not unfairly interfere with the welfare of WPRFU.

"Event decisions by SARU in regard to WPRFU shows that it well and truly wants to CAPTURE the WPRFU.

"It appears not only the WPRFU, but the Public also, and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee."

Marais again defends his appearance at the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee this week.

"It kicks off by President Mark Alexander informing the Chairperson that I have joined in on the virtual hearing despite being under 'suspension', and in spite of the trite fact that any member of the public is entitled to attend such hearing.

"On hearing the objection, I immediately quit the hearing and for the reason given below."

Marais again attacks the media for their reporting on the matter.

"Is SARU so desperate for a victory that it rushes, via its media cronies, to trumpet how I was thrown out of the hearing?

"The reason I immediately left was that I did not want the question of my eligibility to be present to become a distraction and a sideshow which would detract from the real reason we were there, for SAROUX to provide answers on the Jurie Roux farce.

"And what a farce those answers would be!!!"

Marais again launches into the merits of the Roux case (as can be seen in his letter below) and claims he it is: "TO WASTE TIME AND TO KEEP ROUX IN OFFICE.

"Talk about CAPTURE. SAROUX makes the shenanigans of the Guptas look like child’s play."

He also attacks SARU for the decision to place Newlands and surrounding properties on the market in a 'sealed bidding process'.

"Newlands by secret ballot (watch this one, it is extremely slick and tricky)," Marais writes.

"It never approaches WPRFU and says hallelujah! You have solved all your problems, tell us about the purchaser and let us work together to make this sale happen. No, it rather embarks upon a media campaign saying that the elected officials if WPRFU is acting illegitimately by pursuing this sale and uses its media cohorts to cast aspersions on the legitimacy thereof?"

Marais also states that "SARU CANNOT be the custodians of the affairs of WPRFU".

"It has created an atmosphere of suspicion and unreliability.

"It still seeks to sway public opinion by its friends in the media, in favour of Jurie Roux.

"Why? Because it has become a cabal of nefarious operators.

"WPRFU intends to call for a comprehensive audit of all SARU financial dealings for the past 10 years.

"I have no doubt as to what such an audit will reveal.

"Furthermore, the media friends of SARU, self-proclaimed sellers of justice and truth, who have labelled many a politician as thieves and fraudsters, with no judicial pronunciation on the matter, has failed to do the same with Jurie Roux.

"Why? I can only conclude that it is due to racism.

"I am driven to this conclusion by a careful analysis of the media reports in this matter that the old enemy of racism is at play in the entire way in which this saga has played out.

"Indeed, most of the media have turned a blind eye, conveniently, to the shenanigans of Jurie Roux.

"And now, SARU wants to charge me for bringing the game into disrepute?? For pointing out the persons and entities who have actually brought the game into disrepute. Shame on you, SARU."

He continues to state that the "CLUBS WILL DECIDE THE DESTINY OF WPRFU AND WILL DECIDE THE ISSUES AT PLAY IN THIS SAGA.

"You be the judge of what is the TRUTH and what is DECEPTION."

He confirmed that he is going ahead with plans for a meeting with the clubs on Monday.

"We await your attendance at Newlands on Human Rights Day, when the future of WPRFU will be decided by its members."

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