SA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux has maintained that he is not guilty of mismanaging Stellenbosch University funds days before his fraud trial was meant to get under way.
The trial was meant to start on Monday, but has been postponed, with no fixed date decided yet.
Roux and co-accused Christiaan de Beer are being sued by the university for allegedly misappropriating funds while they were in charge of the Maties rugby club.
According to TimesLive, in a 16-page affidavit that was submitted to the Western Cape High Court, Roux has challenged the university’s accusations.
‘The university has not lost the R37-million it is claiming from me,’ Roux stated in the documents.
‘It appears from the case presented by the university‚ as well as the university’s own documentation and expert report‚ that the money that the university is claiming from me was spent on legitimate university expenses‚ incurred by and for the benefit of the university.
‘Secondly‚ to the knowledge of the university‚ I never took any money from the university (apart from my salary and benefits)‚ let alone R37-million. The university’s expert report confirms that I did not personally benefit from my alleged conduct relied upon for the claim.
‘The university claims that I breached my employment contract,’ Roux added.
‘However‚ the university has been unable to produce the statutes‚ regulations‚ policies and principles that applied during my employment. Accordingly I do not know on what basis the university has made the very serious allegations against me.’
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
