Planet Rugby Forum

Netwerk24 has reported that Remgro, in a move confirmed by their CEO Jannie Durand, will not be converting loans to embattled WP into stake-holding.

It will also mean that loans amounting to more than R40-million last year, which served as a rescue remedy at the time, have to be repaid.

Jensrsa wrote:

Netwerk24 has reported that Remgro, in a move confirmed by their CEO Jannie Durand, will not be converting loans to embattled WP into stake-holding.

It will also mean that loans amounting to more than R40-million last year, which served as a rescue remedy at the time, have to be repaid.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/remgro-s ... p-20170805

Constantinou must have a bit of Ozzy Osbourne in him, because he is simply not going away.

Western Province Rugby Union officials must have thought they had rid themselves of this 'pesky' partner when they applied for, and obtained, an order for the professional arm - Western Province Rugby (Pty) Ltd - to be declared bankrupt in the Western Cape High Court.

...

Constantinou is not crazy - although there are some people at WPRU headquarters who thinks so - but the Aerios boss is certainly NOT going away.

Not only is there a damages claim of ZAR271 million by Aerios, but there is also a section 417 inquiry starting in just over a week.

The section 417 inquiry was established to - as claimed by Aerios - determine if the affairs of the bankrupt company (WP Rugby (Pty) Ltd) were conducted in a proper manner. It will look into what happened to company's assets, or even reveal misconduct by the company's directors.

Subpoenas have already been served on the directors of WP Rugby, and more subpoenas may follow, depending on the evidence which comes to light during the inquiry.

If that is not enough to sound the alarm, it has emerged in the past week that Adidas has pulled the plug on WPRU - bringing to an end the oldest sponsorship in South African rugby.

That is not where it ends. There has also been a breakdown in relationship between WPRU and another of its benefactors, the Treble Group - a Sports Marketing and Entertainment group specialising in sponsorship.

This all follows after Johann Rupert's Remgro informed the WPRU that they will not convert a ZAR40 million-plus loan into shares in the union and that the money must be paid back.

While WPRU President Thelo Wakefield recently told rugby365 there is "no need to panic", it seems the paw paw is about to hit the proverbial fan at Newlands.

Constantinou, in an extensive and frank interview with rugby365, said the liquidation itself was a "deeply flawed" process.

"Remgro is a creditor and shareholder of WP Rugby," he said, adding: "Yet they, along with WPRU, the only other shareholder of WP Rugby, mandated PricewaterhouseCoopers to do a valuation of the assets of WP Rugby as a benchmark value for the liquidators of WP Rugby.

"This is where I believe things started to become unethical.

"The information for the valuation was provided to PwC by the WP Rugby shareholders and the valuation was done for the shareholders.

"This is very clearly then NOT an independent valuation, but rather a conflict of interest."

Constantinou pointed out that PwC found the assets to be worth ZAR8.5 million.

He also found it unfathomable that no intangible assets were included - sponsorship deals, player contracts, advertising contracts - on instruction from the shareholders.

The Aerios boss said they had done their own valuation and found it to be well in excess of ZAR100 million.

"The liquidator then took this non-independent valuation and declared that WP Rugby was the only member on the South African Rugby Union general council that was eligible to purchase the assets of WP Rugby," he said.

"The other main creditors at this stage were FNB - whom Remgro is a shareholder of- Remgro and WPRU, the latter the purchaser of the assets.

"Quite obviously, there was no objection to this valuation from Remgro or FNB, as they both have guarantees from the union, and again obviously there was no objection from the assets purchaser WPRU."

He added that the liquidator tried to pull the wool over everyone's eyes and that the audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, may end up having a lot to answer for in the section 417 inquiry.

What further puzzles Constantinou is why would WPRU offer ZAR19 million for WP Rugby, when the liquidator accepted a valuation of just ZAR8.5 million.

He also said the role that SARU played in the liquidation process and what financial support - if any - they provided would be revealed during the inquiry.

Another company that may have some tough questions to answer at the inquiry is Remgro, as they may have inadvertently made themselves accomplices to whatever WPRU did to get the liquidation and asset buy-back done - because they were a shareholder and backer of WPRU's liquidation plans.

This will all be uncovered in the Section 417 Inquiry which is set to commence next week Thursday, August 24.

WPRU is in debt to the tune of - or at the very least facing claims of - ZAR316 million. That is ZAR40 million from Remgro and ZAR271 by Aerios.

That is why Wakefield's insistance that "there is no need to panic" must be questioned.

Chilli wrote:Sell the shithole that is Boolands and pay back the money.

Chilli wrote:Sell the shithole that is Boolands and pay back the money.

assfly wrote:

Chilli wrote:Sell the shithole that is Boolands and pay back the money.

I agree. It's a great spot for a 4 star serviced apartment block.

Sandstorm wrote:

assfly wrote:

Chilli wrote:Sell the shithole that is Boolands and pay back the money.

I agree. It's a great spot for a 4 star serviced apartment block.

Bollocks. Move the brewery to Ndabeni and turn that land into a proper bar/restaurant/entertainment hub. Clean up Newlands station, get the smell of Sard's piss out of the subway tunnels and it'll be a great place to watch Rugby and spend an evening.

Sandstorm wrote:

assfly wrote:

Chilli wrote:Sell the shithole that is Boolands and pay back the money.

I agree. It's a great spot for a 4 star serviced apartment block.

Bollocks. Move the brewery to Ndabeni and turn that land into a proper bar/restaurant/entertainment hub. Clean up Newlands station, get the smell of Sard's piss out of the subway tunnels and it'll be a great place to watch Rugby and spend an evening.

The Western Province Rugby Union and kit sponsor adidas look set to part ways after a long partnership.

The official line is that WP and the clothing giant are in negotiations. The current agreement will expire on 31 October.

According to Netwerk24, however, a new agreement ahead of the 2018 season is unlikely. A company in Paarl, Genuine Connection Promotions, is set to manufacture the Stormers jersey for next year's Super Rugby tournament.

A company in Paarl, Genuine Connection Promotions, is set to manufacture the Stormers jersey for next year's Super Rugby tournament.

Jilted former Western Province Rugby Football Union (WPRFU) commercial partner Aerios, is taking another stab at squeezing money out of the beleaguered union at a section 417 hearing on Thursday.

After the Western Cape High Court liquidated the commercial arm of the union‚ Western Province Rugby (WPR) in December 2016‚ Aerios was given the same rights as other creditors, much to its frustration.

Aerios CEO Costas Constantinou believes his company is owed in excess of R270m by WPR, and has set about pursuing the money via a section 417 hearing.

It is a staggering escalation since December, when the high court liquidation ruling stated: "It was apparent‚ however‚ that the company [WPR] faced a claim of about R70m by Aerios in respect of amounts allegedly due in terms of their contractual relationship."

No reasons for adding another R200m on to the claim have been made clear in the public domain.

A brawl reportedly erupted in a Western Province club rugby match at the weekend.

According to TimesLIVE, two Villager players were beaten up before their match against Violets in Cape Town on Saturday.

Villager president Bossie Clarke said his players were attacked by four men, but did not know what had caused the confrontation.

Clarke, a former Western Province wing, said they could not call off the match because they were playing for promotion from the Western Province Super League B to the Super League A.

“I am going viral on this‚ I am telling you right now‚" said Clarke. "I am very upset with the Western Province Rugby Union. They tell us not to go to the media and they do nothing about it.”

Violets could not be reached for comment.

The disruption did not appear to affect Villager on the field as they went on to thump Violets 45-17.

It has come to light that Aerios filed the criminal charges against the directors and CEO of the liquidated company Western Province Rugby (Pty) Ltd.

It is believed that the elite investigative unit, the Hawks, may become involved.

And in another twist former WP benefactor Remgro Sports Investments has been implicated in the criminal case.

This comes at a time when Aerios and WP Rugby are in a legal stand-off in the Section 417 enquiry into the liquidation of WP Rugby in December last year.

The criminal case revolves around a requirement that the WP Rugby bosses had to provide the liquidated company's "statement of affairs" to the Master of the High Court - as required by the Companies Act of 1973.

When Justice Binns-Ward issued the final liquidation order against WP Rugby (Pty) Ltd in December last year, the directors and officers of the company (WP Rugby) were obliged to lodge the "statement of affairs" with the master of the high court within 14 days after the winding up of the company.

When Aerios asked the legal representatives of the liquidators to provide a copy of the "statement of affairs" of WP Rugby, the attorneys of the liquidators confirmed that no "statement of affairs" has been lodged with the Master - despite 10 months having elapsed since the final liquidation order was granted.

The attorneys of the WP Rugby's directors and officers had reportedly been "reminded" to comply with their statutory obligations.

Noncompliance can result in imprisonment or a fine - or both.

Remgro is implicated because not only was the company a shareholder of WP Rugby, but had directors serving on the board of WP Rugby

In the latest development in the Section 417 enquiry Western Province Rugby Union CEO Paul Zacks (who was CEO of the liquidated company WP Rugby) and Colin Moses (Chief Financial Officer of WP Rugby) applied to the High Court of South Africa (Western Cape Division) to seek interim relief - pending the institution of an application to review and set aside the issue of subpoenas that were served on WP Rugby officers and officials last month.

At the heart of the issue before the High Court is the books and financial records of the liquidated company - WP Rugby.

In documents before the High Court it is clear Zacks is determined to have the subpoenas set aside - in order to avoid said documents being handed to Aerios' legal team.

The stand-off - between WP Rugby (Zacks and Moses) and Aerios - is whether said documents (books and financial records) should be released to Aerios and also be available to the Section 417 enquiry.

According to the court documents the books and financial records are still in possession of WPRU (who bought out the liquidated company - WP Rugby).

It is claimed the liquidator should have taken full control of the liquidated company's books and papers.

Zacks is contesting this and in the court papers it is clear the liquidator did not take control of the books and records, even with all the publicity surrounding the case.

Those documents are still sitting on a joint server at WPRU headquarters.

This raised questions about why Zacks and Moses would be so determined to keep the documents inaccessible.

It has come to light that the Master of the High Court has removed one of the liquidators of WP Rugby (Pty) Ltd.

Christopher Peter van Zyl, of Mazars, has been removed from all matters in which he was previously appointed as liquidator - with effect from 31 August 2017.

Van Zyl was the preferred liquidator of the union and of Remgro Sports Investments (Pty) Ltd.

rugby365 is in possession of a letter and certificate - issued by Master of the High Court Cape Town - in which they confirmed the removal of Van Zyl from the matter.

The revelation comes amid the ongoing secrecy regarding the intentions of the Western Province Rugby Football Union with respect to the Newlands stadium.

This comes at a time when Aerios and WP Rugby are in a legal stand-off in the Section 417 enquiry into the liquidation of WP Rugby in December last year.

Aerios CEO Costas Constantinou questioned why the removal of Van Zyl of Mazars was kept secret.

The Master's decision to remove Van Zyl from office in all matters in which he had been appointed as liquidator is now the subject of a pending High Court review application.

Die Westelike Provinsie Rugbyunie (WPRU) sit met die feestyd om die draai met ’n yslike tameletjie ná bewerings oor ’n rassevoorval waarby een van die lede van sy uitvoerende komitee betrokke was.

Jensrsa wrote:

Die Westelike Provinsie Rugbyunie (WPRU) sit met die feestyd om die draai met ’n yslike tameletjie ná bewerings oor ’n rassevoorval waarby een van die lede van sy uitvoerende komitee betrokke was.

Translate: The Western Province Rugby Union (WPRU) is facing a tough situation with the festive season approaching after a racial incident involving one of the members of its executive committee.
https://www.netwerk24.com/Sport/Rugby/r ... p-20171219
(I don't have access to the full article)

Thelo Wakefield, the WPRUs President, confirmed that an investigation into the incident after the union's Vise-President, Gerald Njengele, got into an argument at the recent Cape Town 7s

Western Province Rugby Union (WPRU) vice-president Gerald Njengele is in hot water after allegedly being involved in a racial conflict last week.

The incident, according to Netwerk24, took place at the Cape Town Sevens on the weekend of December 9/10.

According to the report, Njengele is accused of launching a verbal and racial attack on Jessie Claassen, who is the national manager of the Vuka Rugby Programme - a SA Rugby-affiliated initiative that aims to cater for rugby development in the country.

Claassen said that the attack stemmed from his decision not to shake Njengele's hand due to a previous altercation between the pair back in August.

When this happened, Njengele allegedly responded: "F**k you white people, f**k the coloureds. I'm a clever darkie. I don't need your f*****g money."

Njengele has since denied that he made those comments.

WPRU president Thelo Wakefield confirmed to Netwerk24 that an inquiry had been commissioned.

Jensrsa wrote:

Jensrsa wrote:

Die Westelike Provinsie Rugbyunie (WPRU) sit met die feestyd om die draai met ’n yslike tameletjie ná bewerings oor ’n rassevoorval waarby een van die lede van sy uitvoerende komitee betrokke was.

Translate: The Western Province Rugby Union (WPRU) is facing a tough situation with the festive season approaching after a racial incident involving one of the members of its executive committee.
https://www.netwerk24.com/Sport/Rugby/r ... p-20171219
(I don't have access to the full article)

Thelo Wakefield, the WPRUs President, confirmed that an investigation into the incident after the union's Vise-President, Gerald Njengele, got into an argument at the recent Cape Town 7s

Western Province Rugby Union (WPRU) vice-president Gerald Njengele is in hot water after allegedly being involved in a racial conflict last week.

The incident, according to Netwerk24, took place at the Cape Town Sevens on the weekend of December 9/10.

According to the report, Njengele is accused of launching a verbal and racial attack on Jessie Claassen, who is the national manager of the Vuka Rugby Programme - a SA Rugby-affiliated initiative that aims to cater for rugby development in the country.

Claassen said that the attack stemmed from his decision not to shake Njengele's hand due to a previous altercation between the pair back in August.

When this happened, Njengele allegedly responded: "F**k you white people, f**k the coloureds. I'm a clever darkie. I don't need your f*****g money."

Njengele has since denied that he made those comments.

WPRU president Thelo Wakefield confirmed to Netwerk24 that an inquiry had been commissioned.

https://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/wpru-vi ... w-20171220

Cape Town - There appears to be unhappiness among personnel of the Western Province Rugby Union regarding bonuses.

And the union, which is struggling financially, is not prepared to negotiate on the matter.

An article on Netwerk24 indicates that only staff on grades 4-7 salary tiers received their annual bonuses (ranging from 6%-100%) in November. The middle and senior executives in grades 1-3 will, however, only receive a 6% increase in March 2018 and a bonus of 50%.

“We have kept to our word that we don’t want to spend money extravagantly. We do not want to make a Steinhoff of Western Province. Our resources will be reduced if 13th cheques are paid over job security,” WP president Thelo Wakefield stated.

Wakefield added that the union was expecting cash injections and was planning to repay senior personnel.

The WP president added that personnel should understand the union’s financial position before complaining about salaries.

Piet Heymans, the secretary and spokesperson of the trade union Sport Employers Unite, said they’ll be meeting with the union in the New Year to discuss the issue.

“WP’s compensation committee recommended that all employees get the same increase. Why then change your committee’s own decision? It may be an option that those who did not get increases will be paid retrospectively, but in that case it should be in writing.”

The WP Rugby Union was forced to liquidate its commercial arm last year to evade a multi-million Rand claim from sports marketing company Aerios.

The union was then saved by Remgro, an investment company which had a 24.9 percent stake-holding in the WP business wing.

However, Remgro announced its withdrawal of financial support in early August, leaving WP with R40m debt.

NEWLANDS SAGA: ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR. THIS CERTAINLY HOLDS TRUE FOR COMBATIVE AERIOS BOSS COSTAS CONSTANTINOU.

City of Cape Town officials are the latest in his firing line, in the ongoing saga involving the bankruptcy of Western Province Rugby (Pty) Ltd and the imminent sale of the Newlands stadium.

Constantinou, who is involved in a legal dispute with WP Rugby and the Western Province Rugby Union over the validity of the former's bankruptcy in 2016, has been trying to obtain information about the negotiations about the sale of the Newlands stadium on the WPRU's planned move to the Cape Town stadium.

He accused the City of Cape Town of not being as transparent as it claims to be.

"Aerios (Pty) Ltd is once again being forced to embark on litigation to obtain information to which the ratepayers of Cape Town and the supporters of Western Province Rugby are clearly entitled," Constantinou said.

Constantinou's latest battle comes in the wake of the decision by the City of Cape Town and WPRU officials to remain tight-lipped about their ongoing discussions to move Western Province from the Newlands Stadium to the Cape Town Stadium - despite indications that the discussions may have reached an advanced stage.

WP Rugby insist that Newlands stadium is not up for sale.

They reacted on Friday to claims to the contrary made by Aerios, the commercial partner in lengthy legal dispute with them over advertising rights.

Aerios say they have been blocked by all of WP Rugby, the City of Cape Town, the Provincial Department of Sport and National Department of Sport in their quest for information – under the Promotion of Access to Information Act – surrounding the rumoured move by cash-challenged WP to Cape Town Stadium.

They wished to see “documents relating to the tenders and/or sale of Newlands and the move by the Union … to (City-owned) Cape Town Stadium”.

...

But WP Rugby said in a statement to Sport24: “Western Province Rugby and the Western Province Rugby Football Union (WPRFU) categorically dismiss the malicious and ongoing claims in the public domain that DHL Newlands may have been sold or will be sold in the near future.

“WPRFU have not, and are not currently in negotiations to, and do not have any intention to sell DHL Newlands.

“Any claims to the contrary should be dismissed forthwith as rumour-mongering of the worst kind.”

Fresh suggestions of a move were raised towards the end of last year, when WP president Thelo Wakefield was quoted as saying they were “confident a deal will be struck”.

He also said: “It is inevitable that we move … if our vision is to be the leading Union in the world, we must also have world-class facilities.”

The Western Province Rugby Union is facing bankruptcy, again, and it could be a matter of weeks.

rugby365 has reliably learnt that at least one creditor, Remgro, is ready to call in their ZAR40-million loan.

And the trouble doesn’t end there.

Fierce infighting and looming retrenchments are also part of the seemingly fatal malady at Newlands.

It is believed the former benefactor, Remgro, is keen on getting some property, owned by WP, – Greenside in Claremont or the rugby complex at Montreal Road, Oranjezicht, in the high-demand residential City Bowl area – as security for the loan.

However, the WP brains trust was not able to deliver on the ‘security’ – after the union’s clubs voted against it at a meeting on May 30 – and Remgro is now on the verge of calling in that loan.

It will create an enormous financial crisis for a union whose cash-flow is set to run dry in August,

The problem was not helped when a potential; benefactor – who claimed he had a partnership in European soccer clubs Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) and Genoa CFC (Italy) – failed to come to the party.

In fact, it appears the ‘benefactor, who does not appear on the list of partners for either club, has gone underground.

There is a consortium that is keen to make an offer to obtain a 74.9 percent share in the union, but they have brassbound conditions.

This includes the departure of current President Thelo Wakefield and CEO Paul Zacks.

Wakefield’s presidency term expires at the end of the year, but he is gunning for the position as Chairman of the WP board.

It is believed plans are afoot to take the control – which currently resides with the union (and clubs) – back to the board.

It is this fact that is holding back the consortium from signing.

They want complete control of the employees and finance.

In fact, the consortium is willing to ‘walk away’ if Wakefield remains in the picture.

Another spin-off of Wakefield’s pending departure as President, is that a nasty rivalry is developing between Peter Jooste and Zelt Marais to take over.

However, the real issue is around the Remgro loan and the crisis it will cause if the Stellenbosch-based investment company calls in its loan.

Already the WPRFU are planningto contract 60 players less in 2019 than they did this year, to help alleviate the cash crunch.

It is said they could be forced to declare bankruptcy again – just as they did, with the help of Remgro in 2016, to get out of paying out advertising company Aerios.

The latter has already gone to court to claim for damages. A pretrial hearing was held in the Western Cape High Court a fortnight ago.

Aerios believes it will be able to prove – in court – its claim for damages against WP Rugby.

Aerios is claiming that it has suffered damages in the sum of approximately ZAR250-million, as a result of the decision taken by the liquidators of WP Rugby to determine the advertising rights agreements which had been concluded with Aerios.

Sards wrote:The stink has gone from the stands to the boardroom
Most of my suppliers have given up their box suites.

assfly wrote:Immediate expulsion from Super Rugby and the sending of PSdT and Eben to the Sharks is the only option.