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In August 2013 presenter and columnist Graeme Joffe published an article on his SportsFire website that contained perturbing allegations involving SA Rugby Union (Saru) CEO Jurie Roux.
Joffe’s story contained serious implications for the rugby union.
In short, he claimed to have information that Roux, in his capacity as a financial officer at Stellenbosch University, had illegitimately diverted R35 million of the institution’s funds to the Maties rugby club.
Joffe gnawed away at the story and made many approaches to the university to authenticate his information. He also claimed to have approached Saru, who, as is their practice, dismissed the assertions (with contempt).
Joffe claimed he provided Saru president Oregan Hoskins with the information at his disposal, but in 2014 Roux’s contract was renewed.
Now further investigations by reporter Pieter du Toit for News24 have brought to light a report by auditing firm KPMG that supposedly confirms Roux’s skulduggery.
The famous rugby university is allegedly suing Roux for R32 million.
An astonishing assertion is that Roux used special software to “hide his tracks” in the university’s accounting system.
This provides whistle-blower Joffe with gratifying justification of his tenacious crusade to expose graft in South African sport.
Joffe had no holy cows and might sometimes have jumped the gun with some of his allegations, but he made sports administrators wriggle in discomfort whenever a new “charge” appeared on SportsFire.
He often targeted the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and its officials, Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula, the Lotto Distribution Board and many other administrators, to expose alleged unlawful and immoral practices.
In time, Joffe became a megaphone for disaffected sports bodies and sportspeople who relayed allegations of maladministration, bad treatment or misappropriation of funds to him, as they feared victimisation if they were to speak out themselves.
Joffe became a figure of disparagement. Sports administrators detested his revelations and, sadly, members of the media turned on him.
My own view was always that if just 10% of what Graeme Joffe was saying was true, there is a serious problem in South African sport.
Sascoc officials became so angered at being burnt on SportsFire that they lodged a defamation claim of R21 million against Joffe.
He was writing for News24 and The Citizen when Sascoc sued him in his individual capacity, but took no action against the media houses.
Although Sascoc incurred huge legal costs (and allegedly continue to) the matter has yet to go to court.
Then last year it got ugly. Joffe had moved away from Johannesburg and was living in the Eastern Cape. One night, he received a call from an acquaintance who had hired a private investigator to assist him after his phone was tapped and emails hacked.
He was told to urgently vacate his apartment as his life was in danger.
Joffe fled to the US, where he continues to be a thorn in the side of local sports officials – either by reminding them of the information he has or by bringing to light further complaints.
SA rugby has been seriously embarrassed by the Roux revelations and the question has to be asked: What else is Joffe right about?
Will proof emerge to enable legal proceedings to be instituted against other administrators?
Contacted by email, Joffe is adamant: “Just as with Jurie Roux, the truth will out,” he wrote.
The problem is that in our society corruption is all-pervasive.
Daily wrongdoings are brought to the fore in the media, and accusations, sometimes even court rulings, are ignored and the culprits sail on unhindered and unperturbed – other than Roux, of course.
Follow me on Twitter @retiefdan
