Saru refs’ boss comes under fire
He’s accused of verbal abuse and victimisation
THE South African Rugby Union (Saru) referees boss Andre Watson is in the dock and moves to oust him intensified this week when his disciplinary hearing started.
The Saru disciplinary committee, which sat in Cape Town on Friday and yesterday, said the case against the former top referee has been built around a list of grievances signed by 24 officials including referees and television match officials.
The grievances include: ý Verbal abuse; ý Victimisation; ý His abrasive management style; and Financial impropriety. One official, who among many asked to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation, said they wanted Watson out and had no intention of backing down.
“As a department and as individuals, we want to move forward and make some career decisions. In the grievance we made it clear it is a non-repairable relationship.
“The first process in a grievance is to sit down and say let’s put our differences aside and move forward. We made it clear we are not prepared to do that. Even before submitting the grievance, we made it very clear that we tried to address the grievances as individuals and then as a group and that we were not being heard. The only option was through a direct
Andre Watson grievance to Saru and their human resource channel.”
The outcome of the hearing may have major repercussions for Saru. A number of referees have refused to sign contracts with Saru in anticipation of the hearing and its outcome.
“We back it up,” said a referee. “There are several of us who haven’t signed contracts this year. We didn’t sign contracts based on the fact that there was this storm looming. I for one am not prepared to sign until I know where the department is heading. That is an important consideration for me.”
Watson’s alleged fallout with senior referee Rasta Rasivhenge appeared to galvanise the disenchanted. The former last year was alleged to have said to the latter: “I’ll f**k you up. I’ll destroy you.”
Rasivhenge left South Africa to continue his career in Australia and has officiated for that country in the World Sevens Series. Saru’s top brass are said to be desperate to have Rasivhenge back as the referees department under Watson continues to experience a dearth of top class black referees.
After a press release last year in which Watson explained that Rasivhenge had left for personal reasons, he has refused to comment on the matter.
“We thought it was unfair the way Rasta was treated,” said a match official. “However, our grievance in that instance is not valid as that is between Rasta and Andre.
“The issue of Rasta and why he left, the language that was used, the way in which Andre manages individuals and the way he was running the department as a whole became part of the grievance.”
Another source told Times Media Sport that Rasivhenge had been flown here to testify in the hearing and that the country’s No 1-ranked referee Craig Joubert also testified.
Asked to comment yesterday, Saru spokesman Andy Colquhoun delivered the organisation’s standard reply. “We don’t discuss personnel issues.”
Another official said the process should be done this week.