• Governance at Western Province has suffered a blow following the resignation of independent director Raymond van Niekerk.
• The marketing guru cited Dr Johan van der Merwe and Andre van der Veen's non-extension as independents as one of the main reasons for his departure.
• Van Niekerk is also concerned over whether WP will effectively fill the void, especially after Ebrahim Rasool's installation as the new chairman of the board.

Independent influence on Western Province's board of directors suffered a blow on Tuesday following the resignation of Raymond van Niekerk.

According to Netwerk24, the marketing guru cited the non-extension of Dr Johan van der Merwe and Andre van der Veen's tenures as independent members as one of the main factors in his decision.

The latter's departure is a particularly cruel blow as Van der Veen was instrumental in sourcing MVM Holdings, an American-based consortium headed by Durban-born lawyer Marco Masotti, as a potential shareholder.

Negotiations are ongoing but it's understood the major hitch is the consortium's apparent insistence on having the power to appoint administrators and coaches.

"If you're at such a sensitive stage of negotiations for a controlling stake in your company and you get the most valuable person in your midst - in this case Andre - as well as the chairman, then you've abandoned all logic," Van Niekerk told the publication.

"It's amounts to one deliberately leaving Pieter-Steph du Toit out of your squad."

Van der Merwe, who headed the board, has been controversially replaced by Ebrahim Rasool, former Western Cape premier and ambassador to the US.

The WPRU previously noted that after due deliberation that it needed to limit the two men's terms in order for the union to become more demographically representative in its decision-making structures.

But Van Niekerk wonders whether the union will be able to effectively fill the void.

"Can WP appoint independent directors that can stand up and fight for what's in the best interests of the union or will it be individuals who dance to the leadership's tune? I can't make a call on that but it certainly needs to be place under the spotlight," he said.

He also bemoaned the departure of Kevin Kiewitz from the executive committee in protest over the WPRU reneging on an agreement with Investec over the redevelopment of Newlands.

- Compiled by Sport24 Staff