Border Rugby Union faces liquidation in June

BROKE Border Rugby Union (BRU) will know by June 26 whether an application by all their 24 players for the final liquidation of the troubled union is granted.

A draft court order for the provisional sequestration of the union was yesterday granted by Justice John Smith in the Bhisho High Court.

Border is due to play their first official game of the season on Sunday, when they will face the Boland Kavaliers at Port Elizabeth’s Wolfson Stadium in a SuperSport Rugby Challenge.

A number of players who spoke to the Dispatch yesterday on condition of anonymity, said they had not been training for the past two weeks and did not think they would honour Sunday’s game.

However, BRU president Pumlani Mkolo said late yesterday that the players would be back in training today and that they would fulfil their Sunday fixture.

Mkolo revealed that the financial woes started in December, when their grant from the SA Rugby Union “was reduced by 50%”.

He said his union contracted players and other staff members every October, based on their previous and projected budget.

Mkolo said Border had in fact managed to raise the money needed to pay the players’ benefits. “We did manage to get the money after court yesterday.

“We will now be able to settle all the backlogs and also pay for such benefits until the players’ contracts end in October, the time when we will realign our budget,” he said, adding that liquidating the union would not be a solution.

Smith gave all interested parties until June 26 to show just cause as to why such an order cannot be made a final order of liquidation.

BRU had no legal representation yesterday after their counsel, Allams Attorneys, submitted a letter to court withdrawing their services. No reasons were given.

The sequestration application was made last month by the South African Rugby Players Association (Sarpa), which is representing the 24 professional rugby players employed by Border.

In its papers, Sarpa said BRU had for the past four months intermittently failed to make timeous contributions towards their players’ pension fund, income tax and their medical aid premiums.

Issuing the provisional order yesterday, Smith ordered that BRU’s estate be placed under provisional sequestration “in the hands of the Master of the High Court”.

He said the draft order should also be served, before June 26, on the BRU and its employees, “other than the 24 who had made the application”, and on SARS.

On June 26, interested parties will be entitled to object to the application and try to persuade the court not to grant the final order for sequestration.

If no objections are lodged, or the court is not persuaded by the objections, the final order for sequestration will be granted.

After that the BRU’s assets will be disposed of and the creditors paid with the proceeds.