A proposed special general meeting, where certain club delegates were expected to again push for a vote of no confidence in EPRU president Cheeky Watson, will not go ahead as planned. CRAIG LEWIS reports.

The meeting had been expected to take place in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, but it was called off as all the necessary constitutional requirements were apparently not met.

It represents another lifeline for Watson, who escaped the threat of a potential vote of no confidence being put forward at the union’s annual general meeting at the end of February, also as the result of a constitutional technicality.

EP Rugby has been beset by a financial crisis for the better part of the last year, with SA Rugby recently taking full administrative control of the EPRU, while appointing independent executive committee member Monde Tabata as an administrator.

It’s believed that Tabata took legal advice when determining that the necessary requirements had not been met to go ahead with Saturday’s meeting, which meant any outcome reached at the special meeting could then face further legal challenges.

At the beginning of March, Rugby Transformation Coalition representative Bantwini Matika led the movement that saw five letters signed by clubs put forward to call for the special general meeting to take place.

Matika reacted angrily after hearing that Saturday’s special meeting had been called off.

‘You don’t cancel a constitutional meeting because you feel conditions were not met,’ he told The Herald. ‘The actual meeting should sit and then be cancelled there by the clubs. There are other things to discuss like financials and club matters. Now we are going to question the authority of SA Rugby and their integrity on this matter.’

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