SARU CEO Jurie Roux Can't Be Suspended for Misappropriating Money While at Stellenbosch University... Yet

• South African Rugby Union president Mark Alexander says the organisation cannot suspend embattled CEO Jurie Roux for what happened in his previous job
• Roux was found guilty of funnelling R37 million of the University of Stellenbosch's money into its Maties Rugby Club
• The matter has been ongoing since 2015, but it reached a peak in December 2020 when he was found guilty with the matter finalised in December last year

The South African Rugby Union's president Mark Alexander says its embattled chief executive officer Jurie Roux cannot be suspended because his alleged transgressions at the University of Stellenbosch took place before he joined the organisation.

Alexander was speaking before parliament's Sports Portfolio Committee earlier today, where Roux's continued employment by SARU - a controversial and indefensible issue - was raised.

According to a detailed Sport 24 report, Roux was taken to the Western Cape High Court by his former employers, the University of Stellenbosch, over his role in transferring of funds from a university account to the rugby club without permission.

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Roux was the director of finance at the university from 2002 to 2010 before moving to SA Rugby in his current capacity, with the allegations of the Stellenbosch issues cropping up in 2013.

A KPMG report ignited the subsequent legal wrangling between Roux and the university which led to two arbitration awards going the way of the university.

With the university not satisfied by the attempts made by Roux and his legal team to pay back the R37-million they're claiming from him, they then approached the High Court in a move that was opposed by Roux, who then sought further relief from the court in wanting the two arbitration awards overturned.

Using precedent elsewhere of employees not immediately facing action for misdeeds committed before joining a particular organisation, Alexander said:

"It must be remembered that this happened with his previous employer and not with SA Rugby. It is not a cut and dried matter like [if] he worked for SA Rugby, there are other options we had to take and we have to follow due processes.

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"We'll wait for our attorneys to come back to us and we'll follow their advice, because it wouldn't be a normal suspension. There have been similar instances elsewhere, but you can't suspend a person for something that happened in a different organisation."

The full hearing's transcript can be read here.

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The long, very drawn-out saga involving South African Rugby Union (SARU) CEO Jurie Roux appears to be coming to an embarrassing end for him.

As reported by Sports Brief, Roux had allegedly funnelled around R37 million of Stellenbosch University's money into the institution's Maties Rugby Club.

He did this before his SARU days when he was still in the university's financial department.