Mujati cleared to face the Bulls
The Stormers received a timely boost on Friday when an arbitrator of the judicial committee of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) cleared prop Brian Mujati to play against the Bulls in a Super 14 match at Newlands on Saturday.
The Stormers received a timely boost on Friday when an arbitrator of the judicial committee of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) cleared prop Brian Mujati to play against the Bulls in a Super 14 match at Newlands on Saturday.
Mujati, a former Zimbabwean schoolboy star who transferred from the Lions to the Stormers at the end of last year, is at the centre of row between the two camps – or at least their administrative arms.
The Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ), where Mujati played before moving to Cape Town, have refused to sign release documents for Mujati and claimed that he was still legally under their employment.
Mujati, meanwhile, has been training in Cape Town ever since moving from Johannesburg last year and was this week duly named in the Stormers team to face the defending champion Bulls in the opening round of the Super 14, in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Lions had claimed he was not allowed to play for the Cape-based side, as he was supposedly still on their books, whilst they also lodged formal complaints against Mujati's agent Jason Smith and Stormers coach Rassie Erasmus over what they claimed were a breach of player/agent and player-movement regulations.
However, Advocate Jannie Lubbe, acting on instruction from SARU's judicial committee, dismissed the Lions' objections to Mujati's inclusion in the Stormers side and his move to Cape Town.
Although the Stormers have yet to obtain a formal clearance for Mujati from the Lions or UJ, SARU's judicial committee is unlikely to stop him from playing on Saturday.
“The provision of Section 38(1) of the immigration act prohibits the conclusion of an agreement with a foreigner whose status does not authorise him to be employed,” Lubbe told rugby365.com in revealing his finding to this website.
“Therefore the contract concluded by the GLRU [Golden Lions Rugby Union] with the player is void ab initio and negotiations with the player by Erasmus [the Stormers coach] and the agent [Smith] were not in breach of [SARU] regulations,” Lubbe added.
Although the Stormers still do not have a formal clearance and, strictly according to regulations, have to obtain one before Saturday, they will get away with playing the prop in Saturday's big North-South derby if they can prove that they have applied for clearance by Friday.
It is obvious the Lions won't grant him clearance at this stage, but he will be allowed to play – while the clearance battle goes on.
The reason why the prop's agent, Smith, and Stormers coach Erasmus felt they were entitled to negotiate with the player – without permission from the Lions – was that he did not have a proper working permit.
The Lions, in turn, claimed he was legally on their books because he was still on a student visa, although it appears the visa may have expired as a result of an administrative oversight.
The Lions claim that Stormers and Western Province officials negotiated with Mujati behind their back, which is why they (the Lions) then lodged an objection with SARU.
These are all the facts that Lubbe considered, before finding in favour of the Stormers.
Mujati will be making his first Super 14 appearance in Stormers colours on Saturday.
By Jan de Koning