‘Mr Fixit’ may be called in:
Veteran administrator could be brought aboard to sort out Southern Kings’ woes
SA Rugby could be planning to bring in experienced rugby administrator Monde “Mr Fixit” Tabata to help sort out the crisis that has engulfed the Isuzu Southern Kings.
If this happens it will not be the first time that Tabata, an independent member of SA Rugby, has been parachuted into Port Elizabeth to help sort out a crisis. Insiders said SA Rugby Union president Mark Alexander and Tabata addressed Kings staff yesterday.
Late yesterday afternoon news broke that the mother body had seized back its controlling 74 percent share of the franchise.
Tabata, a retired former corporate executive, is respected in rugby circles and has been credited for helping to get EP rugby back on its feet after problems the union experienced in 2016 during the Cheeky Watson era.
He is a graduate of Rhodes University and holds an honorary degree from Australia’s Monash University.
Tabata is also a former MD of Megapro and served for 16 years on the board of directors of Peermont Global Group and was chair of the various trusts linked to the group.
The Kings, who failed to pay administrative salaries on time in April, have endured tough times in the boardroom and on the field.
After being saved with a R6m bailout by the metro, there were rising fears the Kings might face similar cash flow problems in the months ahead.
The team have a woeful record in the PRO14. They have won only one of the opening 13 matches and are bottom of the log.
Last week the rift between the Kings and their minority shareholders the EP Rugby Union widened further when a second scheduled shareholders meeting collapsed at the last minute on Thursday.
The row escalated after Kings deputy chair Rory Stear fired angry shots across the bow Rademan.
This led to Rademan claiming that the Kings had “chickened out” of the meeting after they claimed it was illegal under Covid-19 restrictions.
Tensions between the two parties had been at boiling point after a series of disagreements over the manner in which the franchise is run.
EP are the minority shareholders in the franchise and claim they are kept in the dark when key decisions were made. The EPRU had wanted to view the Kings’ financial statements for the past six months and also interrogate the franchise over their poor performance in the PRO14.
EPRU officials have also taken umbrage at claims that they tried to block an extra funding payment of R6m to the Kings to solve a cash flow crisis that resulted the late payment of salaries to players.