Players hurt and destitute after Kings liquidation
When the EP Rugby Union recently liquidated the Southern Kings franchise after it accumulated debts of R55-million, it sparked human misery. By
Former Southern Kings chair Cheeky Watson sold his vision for a diverse and successful Eastern Cape franchise to a lot of important people in 2009. “The Kings will be the best team in South Africa in five years’ time,” Watson boasted after the team claimed victory in their debut Super Rugby match in 2013.
“In 10 years,” he added, “the Kings will be among the top franchises in world rugby.”
Seven years on from that inaugural victory, and Watson’s statement reads like a sick joke.
Thanks to poor governance and financial mismanagement, the franchise was liquidated for a second time in five years in August. It was a result of the short-lived and disastrous ownership of private-equity investor, the Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (GRC), collapsing.
The GRC failed to meet its financial commitments relating to the acquisition of the shareholding. As a result, neither the Kings nor their feeder union Eastern Province will compete again in 2020.
Kings assistant coach Braam van Straaten as well as Kings players Bobby de Wee, Cameron Wright and Schalk Ferreira revealed that the vast majority of the Kings team is struggling to secure jobs at other franchises or clubs, and that many of the players can no longer pay rent or support their families.
Care4Kings
Van Straaten was the first to speak out. In the first of a series of videos — which have since fallen under the banner of the “Care4Kings” campaign — Van Straaten explained how desperate the situation was for the players. He went as far as to clasp his hands together in a begging gesture.
In a subsequent video, Van Straaten — a proud man who represented his country 21 times — said that he would auction his Springbok blazer and donate all proceeds to the 52 families that had been affected by the sudden liquidation of the Kings.
“We need to give our people hope,” Van Straaten told DM168.
“That Springbok blazer is important to me. It represents what I stand for. But how could I not auction it off to help someone in need? This is about something bigger than a blazer.”
Day-to-day struggle
While Van Straaten’s campaign has gained support, the players still live with day-today anxieties. Several players said that this life-changing ordeal won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
“There are nervous times for all of us, and they usually start around the 20th of each month,” said De Wee.
“You keep thinking about what’s going to happen when the debit orders start to come off on the 31st. Will you have enough money to pay the bills?
“A number of my teammates have asked me for financial assistance. Some of the players have gone back to live with their extended families because they can’t afford to pay rent or even buy groceries.”
The Covid-19 crisis and the resultant loss of revenue hit the South African franchises and unions hard.
The Sharks, who were at the top of the Super Rugby table prior to the lockdown in late March, were forced to release players such as scrumhalf Wright.
Wright decided to pursue an opportunity with the Kings. He bought a house in Port Elizabeth and moved his wife and baby daughter down to the Eastern Cape with the intention of putting down roots.
Unfortunately, the dream of a new life quickly became a nightmare. Wright has since moved back to Durban.
“We’re in a far better position than some of the other families that have been affected,” he said.
“There are players at the Kings, like Yaw Penxe [who has subsequently taken a shortterm loan with the Sharks], who are playing to support entire communities. When that salary is taken away, it has an impact on a lot of people.”
Ferreira points out that opportunities at other South African unions, and even at overseas clubs, have never been more limited.
Those without Super Rugby and Pro14 experience, and particularly younger players, may battle to find a paying gig.
“It’s sad to think about what will become of the junior guys, many of whom were earmarked to lead the Kings into a new era,” he said. “Some of them will go back to varsity and play, but there’s no money in that.
“Where else can they go, with other teams in South Africa reducing their squad sizes and overseas clubs getting stricter in terms of foreign players?”
EP’s future
The South African Rugby Union (SA Rugby) has reached out to the Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU). Plans are in place to include Eastern Province in a new South African tournament, the SA Cup, next year.
De Wee isn’t hanging around to see whether those plans come to fruition, though.
“I’m yet to confirm my next playing gig, but if the EPRU called me tomorrow to offer me a contract, I would humbly decline,” the straight-talking lock said. “I’ve seen how they’ve made promises and then failed to deliver.
“What if two months after signing that contract, I was told that they could no longer pay me? What if my partner was pregnant? I’ve been thinking about this a lot. What’s preventing what happened before from happening again?”
Ferreira has fallen victim to the Kings’ poor leadership on two previous occasions. The well-travelled prop won’t make the same mistake three times.
“I was part of the team during the Cheekygate era,” he said, referring to the former Kings chair who is now synonymous with corruption and failure.
“Cheeky promised the coaches and players the world. There was so much talk about sponsors pumping money into the franchise. People took Cheeky at his word. Nobody investigated or did their due diligence.”
Ferreira said that the GRC should never have been allowed to run the Kings. While the businessmen in the consortium projected the sort of image that inspired confidence, their commitment to the franchise was always in question.
“What should have drawn attention was the fact that none of them put a cent of their own money into the franchise. It was all metro funding. That’s what really gets me and the players … while we’re dealing with the fallout, these fat cats have got off without losing anything.
“SA Rugby is also to blame,” Ferreira added. “Why wasn’t due diligence done at the time of the takeover?”
Wright said that the whole ordeal has left a horrible taste in the mouth. Will players consider going to the Kings in the future?
“Perhaps, if the Eastern Cape rugby community could rid itself of the characters that have run the franchise into the ground.
“I have to be clear, it’s a very important part of the country in terms of South African rugby,” he added.
“A large portion of South Africa’s black player-base hails from the Eastern Cape. If this region could get it right at management level, the franchise could be a success.
“It actually makes you wonder. If SA Rugby are so passionate about the region and if they are aware of its importance, how could they have allowed this to happen?”
Ferreira believes that SA Rugby needs to run an academy in the Eastern Cape and that private ownership of a newly structured franchise could provide another long-term solution.
“Johann Rupert and Patrice Motsepe have put their own equity into the Bulls. They’re not going to jump ship. That’s what you need to build something sustainable. I believe that an Eastern Cape franchise could be successful with the right management. It will take time, though.”
For now, the coaches and players are going out of their way to support one another.
The Care4Kings campaign — an independent initiative started by Van Straaten that benefits the families who have been affected — is gathering momentum.
“We’ve got to make sure this never happens in South African sport again,” Van Straaten said. “We’ve got to make sure that codes like rugby look after their coaches and players so they don’t find themselves in such a dire situation.”