Saru administrators doing good job

THE decision to put EP Rugby under Saru’s administration, led by Monde Tabata and Francois Davids, was met with scepticism in some quarters. I supported this view. Since our last special general meeting, it has become glaringly apparent that I had measured Saru’s intervention prematurely.

I have thus learnt that Saru’s intervention should be judged or measured by the overwhelming superior capacity that Saru’s administrators have to change the status quo.

Before Saru’s intervention in the messy affairs of this union, whenever we as union committee members met to discuss the state of the union, we saw this as an opportune time to spew bile on one another.

We had completely abdicated our responsibility to act as custodians of the aspirations of the young talent that this province opulently possesses.

We were preoccupied with our myopic power skirmishes and this resulted in a slump to mediocrity.

Saru’s intervention has aided us in partly turning things around and has to a certain degree reformed our behaviour.

One of Saru’s activities was meticulously to organise and convene a planning symposium in Port Elizabeth to devise development strategies to take our union forward.

For the first time in so many months, we were able to focus our energies on recreating the image of EP Rugby, having considered issues, including a reconfiguration our fixtures, constitutional amendments, nurturing rugby talent and recreating the image of EPRU.

This was even though we couldn’t engage thoroughly on the recommendations due to limited resources.

Although there was a definitive concern with regard to the modus operandi to be adopted in pursuance of the tasks set for our union, we had partially transcended factional battles.

It is regrettable that in the face of all this progress Saru has helped us to make, there were still those who wanted to characterise Saru’s administrators as the puppets of Cheeky Watson.

This was a fallacy as there are Saru-appointed administrators who have assumed all decision-making powers at a governance and operational level as they are obligated under Saru’s constitution.

Cynicism is starting to resurface in the union because there are those who fail to grasp the need to transcend power battles or feuds.

There are those who do not want to give credit where it’s due.

There are those who do not grasp the fact that EPRU’s sustained bad image slumps us further into mediocrity and that other unions around the country stand to benefit from that.

This kind of behaviour is tantamount to a subtle coup against Saru’s best efforts to salvage whatever is remaining in this already paralysed union.

Saru takes into account all the competing demands and ensures all stakeholders influence the union’s governance.

This finds expression in Saru’s recent proposal regarding elections on April 8. It is a step towards the right direction. Saru is not operating in outer space, as some would like the public to believe, but rather is willing to work hard like the rest of us who want to ignite hope and not extinguish our prospective success.

Lembede Jantjie, union committee member, Port Elizabeth