'Rugby is continuing to succeed in the transformation process,' insists Jurie Roux

SA Rugby was one of only eight of 19 South African sporting federations that achieved their transformation targets in 2017/18, according to the sixth report of the Eminent Persons’ Group on Transformation in Sport (EPG) in Pretoria.

SA Rugby achieved 60 per cent of the targets agreed with the Department of Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC). The EPG sets a minimum target of 50 per cent achievement as the measure of successful compliance.

The other federations achieving the target were: table tennis, football, gymnastics, tennis, cricket, netball and basketball.

“Rugby is continuing to succeed in the transformation process and we’re pleased with the outcomes of the EPG report,” said Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby.

“We maintained a 60 per cent achievement from the previous year against the background of rising targets. We are now in the final year of our original Strategic Transformation Plan (STP), and we have made considerable strides in the past four years. We expect that progress to continue in 2019.”

SA Rugby was praised in the report back for dedicating resources to the monitoring and evaluation of transformation data, which was noted as being of a “very high standard”.

Roux added that SA Rugby was in the process of putting the finishing touches to a successor transformation development plan to take the organisation to the end of 2030. “We have felt the benefits as a sport and a business of prioritising transformation,” he said.

“A few years ago we were barred from bidding for mega-events because of our transformation performance but those days are long behind us. The sentiment around the Springboks and rugby has undergone its own transformation in recent years.”

South Africa’s national rugby teams have most recently been captained by Shakes Soyizwapi (Springbok Sevens), Phendulani Buthelezi (U20s co-captain), Zintle Mpupha (Springbok Women’s Sevens), Siya Kolisi (Springboks) and Sindi Booi (Springbok Women).

Sports minister, Tokozile Xasa, noted that the report indicated that sports had made “positive and meaningful progress” since the introduction of the EPG.