All systems go for key EP meeting
● Plans in place to get province's club players back on field, says Antonie
It’s all systems go for a successful EP Rugby Union annual meeting tomorrow where important decisions will be made which will enable club players to return to action, president Gerald Antonie says.
The sport has ground to a halt at club level because of internal squabbling between rival officials after the original annual meeting, which was held in March, was adjourned.
Antonie says outstanding reports are in from heads of departments and player registration paperwork has been completed so that the EPRU Grand Challenge tournament can kick off on April 27. EP had a very fruitful executive meeting to prepare for the annual meeting on Saturday which started at 10am and only ended at 4.40pm,” Antonie said.
“The meeting dealt with all the outstanding issues ahead of the resumption of Saturday’s adjourned annual meeting.
“Mbulelo Gidane (finance), Freddie Makoki (provincial affairs) and Phillip Joseph (club affairs) were all there giving their reports.
“The agenda topics were the AGM readiness because it was the reports of Gidane, Joseph and Makoki that were outstanding and we had to address that.
“Now all the reports are in, everything is now in place for the adjourned AGM to take place.
“We are ready for the clubs who want to know where are they playing and what the format will be for the Grand Challenge.
“EP are not going to waste any more time and the clubs are going to play
“The legal team of SA Rugby will be here at the meeting.”
At the last EP meeting, there was drama when some disgruntled clubs staged a mass walkout ahead of an announcement by auditors that Antonie would be the new unopposed permanent president.
Earlier there were signs of disharmony when members of the EP executive left the top table to sit among the clubs when the hot-tempered annual meeting started.
However, some of the executive members returned to the top table meeting when a special general meeting started after the annual meeting was adjourned for 21 days.
Throughout the day there was a palpable sense of tension between members of the executive who were clearly divided into a camp supporting Antonie and one supporting former acting president George Malgas.
After the meeting, Antonie said he was not angry with executive members who moved from the top table and he would do everything to unite his team in the coming weeks
Several members of EP’s executive did not join the wellwishers who thronged to shake Antonie’s hand after his appointment.
SA Rugby deputy president Francois Davids, who attended the meeting as an observer, said if people did not want to be in EP’s executive they should stand aside.
He described the walkout by clubs during the meeting at Cillie High School as a “little bit of a disappointment”.
Antonie said the decision by executive members to leave the top table had not been discussed at Saturday’s executive meeting because it had not been on the agenda.
Finances and the performances of the EP Elephants in the SA Cup are also expected to come up for discussion. EP have found the going tough in the SA Cup tournament, losing 61-0 to the Pumas and 59-26 to the Cheetahs when they faced Currie Cup Premier Division opposition.
“The SA Cup is a learning curve because EP are in a building process,” Antonie said.
“It is a curve for EP and all the other lower-tier First Division teams playing against Currie Cup Premier Division opponents in the SA Cup.
“The SA Cup will strengthen the development of SA rugby and it will lead to more young talent being identified as Springbok candidates.
“We want to build the foundations of EP rugby and we know it will take a bit of time.”