South African rugby team the Southern Kings confirmed a new five-person board to oversee the franchise’s affairs.
Andre Rademan, who is also the Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU) president, was appointed as the new chairman. The EPRU, to whom the operations of the franchise had been granted previously, currently holds 26 percent of the Kings.
The other four people on the board are: Mbulelo Gidane, chairman of the EPRU Finance and Human Resources Committee, SA Rugby Executive Council nominees, Monde Tabata and Jannie Louw, and independent, Gugu Nxiweni.
SA Rugby President Mark Alexander had previously said that a new board will be appointed to supervise the franchise’s affairs and ensure the team is prepared for the resumption of regular competition.
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Two weeks ago, South Africa’s rugby governing body took management control of the Southern Kings, repossessing a 74 percent shareholding in the franchise following the failure of the GRC to meet its contractual obligations.
The contractual obligations related to the acquisition of the shareholding by the Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (GRC). In becoming majority shareholders, the GRC, who never pumped in any additional capital, accepted a 45 million Rand debt but ended up defaulting on repayments at the end of last year.
The Kings have faced recurring management and financial problems in the past with the latest being the delayed payment of wages by 10 days for players and staff in April. The wages were only paid after a 6 million Rand bailout from the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro was received. There were fears that the same would repeat in June and July.
Local media reports suggest that the Kings have a monthly wage cost of more than 3 million rand, in addition to the existing debt burden.
In 2015, the EPRU was unable to pay wages prompting Southern Kings players to try and have the union placed in liquidation. Only the intervention of SA Rugby, with some help from the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, saw the union avoid sliding into bankruptcy.
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