Zelt Marais is the man to lead Western Province’s off-the-field revival and restore the image of Thelo Wakefield’s battered presidency.
Wakefield’s seven-year tenure finishes on Monday and either Marais or Peter Jooste will become Western Province’s president.
I like what I see in Marais and more than that, I like what I hear. He is a man who doesn’t talk in riddles or romance. He speaks about realism and, most significantly, his prose is about fact and not fiction.
I particularly enjoyed his statement that Western Province needs a leader with fiscal discipline and a president who understands the mechanics of what constitutes the running of a business.
WP rugby doesn’t need a ceremonial president. It requires someone with presence and with the necessary financial background.
Marais has served in various capacities within the WP executive, but to serve is very different than to lead. Now he has the opportunity to transfer his knowledge and understanding of business into an asset associated with his leadership.
Marais was asked by several clubs to make himself available and it is the clubs who ultimately define the strength of Western Province rugby. There has been a disregard for the clubs as WP has toyed with the idea of professionalism in various guises.
The clubs may represent the amateur backbone of rugby in the province, but in essence the clubs will determine the strength of WP rugby as a professional entity.
So much has to change within Western Province. Wakefield’s term was tortuous and tainted with financial chaos.
There has to be conviction among the clubs to instil confidence in a man whose vision is devoid of fantasy and focused on the fiscal needs.
Marais’s stance on transformation is liberating; it’s not an event, an occasion or a target - it is a way of life and it has to be treated in that capacity.
Transformation, in the context of WP Rugby as a business, is also an imperative.
Marais chairs the WPRFU’s financial committee, and has served on the executive since 2006. He was elected vice-president in 2012 and deputy president in 2016.
The counter to Marais would be that he is a part of the Wakefield era, but his counter to that would be to highlight the obvious differences in the portfolio of deputy in relation to being president.
Marais wants to lead. He has earned the respect of the clubs, which is why so many approached him to lead WP out of the mess. He is a president-elect who insists there has to be more done for the clubs, the schools and transformation. He wants greater local government commitment to WP Rugby when it comes to transformation and funding. He also won’t excuse ill-discipline among the WP executive leadership and operational leadership when it comes to money.
He wants transparency in player contracting. He knows too many players are contracted and he promotes dealing. Perception is the evil within WP. Short-term greed, he says, will lead to long-term disaster.
Marais isn’t bullish or arrogant. He talks calmly and his measured tone is a strength. He is the antithesis of Wakefield as a person and his presidency will also be the antithesis of Wakefield’s.
Keohane, a multiple award-winning sports journalist, is the head of Independent Media Sport