SA Rugby President Mark Alexander gets another term as President and it will serve as his final term in charge
Mark Alexander will continue in his role as president of the South African Rugby Union (Saru) after being the only candidate to win a nomination when the deadline for the next four year term closed on Monday. Alexander has been involved in the Saru leadership since 2016. He first took on the role as interim president following the resignation of then incumbent, Oregan Hoskins, in 2016 and was nominated by representatives of 11 of Saru’s member unions.
He will formally begin his third and final full term at the Annual General Meeting in Cape Town on 14 May. Meanwhile eight nominations were received for the two open positions on the Saru Executive Council.The current holders of the roles, Hennie Baartman and Randall September, are standing for election for a second term but are opposed (in alphabetical order) by Zuko Badli (nominated by Border), Zelda Freitag (Mpumalanga), Mimi Tau (Blue Bulls), Mpho Sekulisa (Free State), Ryno Opperman (Free State), and Tania Vermaak (Eastern Province).It is a requirement of the Saru constitution that at least one of the two members to secure election is a woman.
Under Alexander’s leadership Saru have had a golden era of winning , with the Springboks becoming back to back World Cup winning champions , in 2019 and 2023 respectively , The Springbok Women’s team made it for the first time to the quarter finals at last year’s Women’s World Cup in England ( This is seen as a huge milestone for Women’s Sport in South Africa). The Junior U20 Springboks also tasted world cup success by winning the Junior World Cup in Georgia last year as well. These victories have all come under the leadership of Alexander , which reflects his excellent leadership. The Minister of Sports, Art and Culture of the Republic of South Africa , Gayton McKenzie has also praised Alexander as the greatest South African Rugby President since unification in 1992. This is high praise coming from the Minister and Alexander will hope to continue this in his 3rd and final term.
