Louis Luyt | |
|---|---|
| President of theSouth African Rugby Union | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1932-06-18)18 June 1932 Britstown, Karoo, Western Cape |
| Died | 1 February 2013(2013-02-01) (aged 80) |
Louis Luyt (18 June 1932 – 1 February 2013) was a South African business tycoon and politician, and one-time rugby administrator.[1][2]
Having been a rugby player as a young man, Luyt went on to become a businessman. He founded Triomf Fertiliser and Luyt Breweries, and took control of Ellis Park stadium inJohannesburg. Distrusted by theAfrikaner elite, Luyt achieved financial success without being a member of the secretiveBroederbond.
In 1976, during the apartheid era, Luyt founded a new English language newspaper,The Citizen.[3] It was later revealed that the money to establish and finance the newspaper had come from a secretslush fund of the Department of Information, and ultimately from the Department of Defense.[4]
He was president of theSouth African Rugby Union when theSpringboks, the national team, won theRugby World Cup in 1995 at their first attempt after returning to international competition after more than a decade of isolation. At the official dinner for the Springboks and theNew ZealandAll Blacks, following the former's narrow victory over the latter in the final, in a speech described by the New Zealand media as "boorish", he declared that if they had played, South Africa would have won the previous two Rugby World Cups including the1987 tournament won by the All Blacks. In response, the All Blacks walked out of the dinner.[5][6][7] During that same dinner, he also caused controversy by publicly thanking refereeDerek Bevan for his refereeing during the semi-final between France and South Africa; Bevan had denied France a last-minute try, despite it "look[ing] like [FrenchmanAbdelatif Benazzi] had grounded the ball over the tryline on the slow motion action replay" (there was at the time notelevision match official). Had the try been allowed, France would have taken the lead. Luyt invited Bevan onto stage to accept an expensive gold watch, leading to a mass walkout, with Bevan himself leaving the room.[8]
In 1998 allegations of lingering racism in rugby led to him being required to appear before a presidential commission of inquiry but Luyt refused to appear and forcedPresident Mandela into court.[9] TheHigh Court found for Luyt,[10] but on appeal theConstitutional Court found against him and for the President.[11]
In 1998, Luyt resigned as rugby union president after being accused of racism and financial mismanagement, and he later formed a political party.[12] He was a member ofParliament as leader of theFederal Alliance from 1999. In 2000 the Federal Alliance merged with theDemocratic Party and theNew National Party to form theDemocratic Alliance[13] before in 2007 Luyt finally led his party to join with theFreedom Front Plus and retired from active politics.[14]
He hated being told what to do by anyone, let alone a black man.
| International | |
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| National | |
