Latest news with #R100m
IOL News
4 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
SA Rugby in the pound seats as international rivals struggle to make ends meet
Saru CEO Rian Oberholzer was happy to report a R100m profit for the union this week. Photo: Supplied Image: Supplied South African rugby is set to buck the global trend and report a profit of more than R100 million for 2025, clearing 2024's losses and ensuring the 15 member unions receive their full funding, while support for the Springboks and all national teams continues unchecked. This good news emerged from the annual meeting of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) in Cape Town on Thursday. Last year, South African rugby recorded a loss of R93 million due to its investment in northern hemisphere rugby competitions, but SA Rugby has already wiped out that deficit with a strong start to 2025. This is in contrast to many rival countries, who are under severe financial pressure. Other international federations have lost as much as R913 million, with five other Tier One nations reporting losses of between R588 million and R181 million. The next 'best' performance after South Africa's was a loss of R126 million, members at the meeting were told. SA Rugby's continued investment into membership of northern hemisphere competitions led to a group loss in 2024, but the organisation had already wiped out that deficit with a strong start to 2025 - more here: 👍 — Springboks (@Springboks) June 5, 2025 Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Rian Oberholzer, CEO of SA Rugby, said that participation in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) came at a net cost of R124 million in 2024. 'We have been investing in the long-term future of South African rugby to become full members of the URC for the best part of eight years,' said Oberholzer. 'It has come at a significant cost to the sport, but there is no doubt that it has been the right thing to do. 'Once we fulfil certain membership obligations this year, we will begin to reap the on- and off-field rewards of such investment. 'If we had not undertaken this journey, we would have been reduced to playing only domestic competitions, which would have had catastrophic high-performance as well as financial ramifications for rugby in South Africa. 'It has been a tough financial road, but we have annually outperformed our global peers since the pandemic, while taking on the unusual cost of our investment into the URC and EPCR. 'Reporting a loss can never be desirable, but the irony is that we are more than satisfied with our position,' said Oberholzer. 'We had budgeted for a loss in 2024 in the expectation that the members would approve the private equity transaction that they had sought, releasing funds to cover the deficit. 'When that did not happen, we continued with our planned commercial reset and other revenue generation plans, which have borne fruit. We are in the very rare position among our international peers of continuing to be debt-free and confident of posting a surplus in 2025.'
The Citizen
4 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
SA Rugby's financial future looking rosy
The South African Rugby Union (Saru) is set to buck the global trend and report a profit of more than R100m for 2025. South African rugby's continued investment in membership of northern hemisphere rugby competitions led to a R93m group loss in 2024, but the organisation had already wiped out that deficit with a strong start to 2025, the annual meeting of Saru was told in Cape Town today. Saru's reported profit in 2025 would ensure the 15 member unions receive their full funding, while support of the Springboks and all national teams would continue unchecked. In the last reporting cycle, other international federations had lost as much as R913m, with five other tier-one nations reporting losses of between R588m and R181m. The next 'best' performance after South Africa's was a loss of R126m, members were told. SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer said that the investment in participation in the Vodacom URC and European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) had come at a net cost of R124m in 2024. 'We have been investing in the long-term future of South African rugby to become full members of the URC for the best part of eight years,' said Oberholzer. 'It has come at a significant cost to the sport but there is no doubt that it has been the right thing to do. 'Once we fulfill certain membership obligations this year, we will begin to reap the on and off field rewards of such investment. 'If we had not undertaken this journey, we would have been reduced to playing only domestic competitions, which would have had catastrophic high performance as well as financial ramifications for rugby in South Africa. 'It has been a tough financial road, but we have annually outperformed our global peers since the pandemic, while taking on the unusual cost of our investment into URC and EPCR.' Oberholzer said the turnaround in 2025 was being achieved by a reformatting of SA Rugby's offering to partners, featuring enhanced rights at enhanced values, as well as the creation of a new commercial delivery model. Overall, in 2024, group commercial revenues exceeded R1.5b for the first time (R1.552b), up from R1.440b in 2023. Total income with the addition of grants (principally from World Rugby of R186m) took total income to R1.76b. Revenues for 2025 are forecast to exceed R2b. The 7.8% increase in revenues was attributable to increased broadcast revenues in a non-world cup year, competition sponsorships and a strong performance in merchandising receipts which more than doubled from R30m to R62m. Expenses increased from R1.816b to R1.871b. The 2.9% increase was put down to investment in hosting three World Rugby tournaments (R133m), a R24m increase in player image rights (to R148m) and the costs associated with the mooted private equity transaction (R13m). Total expenditure attributable to the northern hemisphere international franchise competition was R446m while SA Rugby was still able to make a full distribution to member unions. Spending on the No 1-ranked Springboks, and other national teams, was R433m, a reduction of R27m on the world cup winning year of 2023 (R460m). 'Reporting a loss can never be desirable but the irony is that we are more than satisfied with our position,' said Oberholzer. 'We had budgeted for a loss in 2024 in the expectation that the members would approve the private equity transaction that they had sought, releasing funds to cover the deficit. 'When that did not happen, we continued with our planned commercial reset, and other revenue generation plans, which have borne fruit. We are in the very rare position among our international peers of continuing to be debt-free and confident of posting a surplus in 2025.' ALSO: SA Rugby defends Bok ticket prices Oberholzer said the financial outlook beyond next year was equally healthy with strong revenues forecast for 2026 with new competition formats in the pipeline. 'The income that SA Rugby generates all goes back into supporting the growth and promotion of rugby in the country,' he said. 'It allows us to fund Springbok campaigns, expand women's rugby programmes and fuel our other national teams. It pays for our members' activities in their communities, as well as their professional teams. It underwrites our rugby safety programme BokSmart; supports referee and coaching development and our age group competitions, as well as development programmes and allows us turn on sell-out Test match entertainment and our domestic competitions. 'Ultimately, every rand that we earn goes into powering the game in some shape or form and after a challenging 2024 we have a good news story to tell our South African rugby community as we look ahead.' The post SA Rugby's financial future looking rosy appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal.
The South African
4 days ago
- Business
- The South African
SA Rugby reports R93m group loss, but...
Although SA Rugby confirmed on Friday that the organisation has largely continued to run at a loss, there was a decisive statement that revealed that clarified that the R93m group loss in 2024 had already been wiped out with a strong start to 2025. The loss was predominantly put down South African rugby's continued investment into membership of northern hemisphere rugby competitions, but SARU is reportedly set to buck the global trend and report a profit of more than R100m for 2025. In the last reporting cycle other international federations had lost as much as R913m with five other Tier One nations reporting losses of between R588m and R181m. The next 'best' performance after South Africa's was a loss of R126m, members were told. Overall, in 2024, Group commercial revenues exceeded R1,5bn for the first time (R1,552bn), up from R1,440bn in 2023. Total income with the addition of grants (principally from World Rugby of R186m) took total income to R1,76bn. Revenues for 2025 are forecast to exceed R2bn. The 7,8% increase in revenues was attributable to increased broadcast revenues in a non-Rugby World Cup year, competition sponsorships and a strong performance in merchandising receipts which more than doubled from R30m to R62m. Expenses increased from R1,816bn to R1,871bn. The 2,9% increase was put down to investment in hosting three World Rugby tournaments (R133m), a R24m increase in player image rights (to R148m), and the costs associated with the mooted private equity transaction (R13m). Total expenditure attributable to the northern hemisphere international franchise competition was R446m while SA Rugby was still able to make a full distribution to member unions. Spending on the world ranked number 1 team, the Springboks, and other national teams, was R433m, a reduction of R27m on the Rugby World Cup winning year of 2023 (R460m). Oberholzer said the financial outlook beyond next year was equally healthy with strong revenues forecast for 2026 with new competition formats in the pipeline. 'The income that SA Rugby generates all goes back into supporting the growth and promotion of rugby in the country,' he said. 'It allows us to fund Springbok campaigns, expand women's rugby programmes and fuel our other national teams. It pays for our members' activities in their communities as well as their professional teams. It underwrites our rugby safety programme BokSmart; supports referee and coaching development and our age group competitions as well as development programmes and allows us turn on sell-out Test match entertainment and our domestic competitions. 'Ultimately, every rand that we earn goes into powering the game in some shape or form and after a challenging 2024 we have a good news story to tell our South African rugby community as we look ahead.' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
DBE slams fake news about 2025 school calendar
The department urged the public to ignore reports that the school calendar has changed The DBE announcement of new school calendar fake news. Picture: X/@UmalusiSA The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has shut down false claims circulating online about changes to the 2025 school calendar. Rise UP on Monday reported that the education department had released new dates and term breaks for the remainder of the school year. 'This revamped school calendar is designed to optimise learning periods and ensure sufficient rest, reflecting the department's commitment to improving educational outcomes in the region,' it said. It further stated that the decision was to 'evenly distribute' the school terms. However, the department denied the claims and reassured parents, teachers, and pupils that the current school calendar for 2025 remains unchanged. 'Be informed that the school calendar for the academic year 2025 has not changed,' the department said. ALSO READ: No party favourites: Minister defends appointment of Mantashe's son to Seta board 'The department has not made any announcement regarding the school calendar for 2025 whatsoever! Beware of scams!' it warned. ALSO READ: 'Looting using matric papers': Why did NW printing job price jump by around R100m? School calendar Here's a comprehensive overview of the key dates on the 2025 school calendar to help parents stay ahead of the game. Term 1: Schools start: 15 January 2025; Schools close: 28 March 2025; Public holidays: New Year's Day (1 January 2025), Human Rights Day (21 March 2025); and School holidays: 29 March to 7 April 2025. Second term: Schools start: 8 April 2025; Schools close: 27 June 2025; Public holidays: Good Friday (18 April 2025), Family Day (21 April 2025), Freedom Day (27 April 2025), Workers' Day (1 May 2025), Youth Day (16 June 2025). Special school holidays: 29 April to 2 May 2025; and School holidays: 18 June to 8 July 2025. Third term: School start: 22 July 2025; School closes: 3 October 2025; Public holidays: National Women's Day (9 August 2025), Heritage Day (24 September 2025); and School holidays: 6 to 10 October 2025. Fourth term: School start: 13 October 2025; School closes: 10 December 2025; Administration days: 11 to 12 December 2025; and Public holidays: Day of Reconciliation (16 December 2025), Christmas Day (25 December 2025), Day of Goodwill (26 December 2025). NOW READ: Nearly 3% of school staff in South Africa flagged for criminal activity — data reveals
The Citizen
5 days ago
- General
- The Citizen
Over 330 arrested in Gauteng during joint high-density operations
Over 330 arrested in Gauteng during joint high-density operations The Gauteng Traffic Police and Traffic Wardens, the SAPS and other law enforcement agencies arrested over 330 people in joint high-density operations across Gauteng on May 30 and June 1. The CoE recorded 69 arrests in areas including Etwatwa, Tembisa, Benoni, Springs, Boksburg, Tokoza, Dunnotar, Norkem Park, Duduza, Primrose and Zonkizizwe. Among the arrests, 15 were for drinking and driving, 14 for drug possession and five for selling liquor without a licence. The entities searched 944 individuals and 416 vehicles. High-density operations in the CoT saw 96 arrests in areas including Mabopane, Akasia, Mamelodi, Sunnyside and Olievenhoutbosch. ALSO CHECK: Gauteng Health gets R100m lifeline to restore critical hospital services In the Sedibeng Municipality, officers apprehended 80 people in operations in Sebokeng, Orange Farm, Evaton, Vanderbijlpark, Boipatong, and the Barrage. Meanwhile, in the West Rand Municipality, 67 arrests were made in Mohlakeng and Westonaria as part of ongoing enforcement activities, including Operation Shanela. The Department of Community Safety (DCS) commended law enforcement officials for their continued collaboration and commitment to making these arrests. 'Drinking and driving, public drinking, possession of drugs and dealing in drugs are a sore thorn that officials are continuously dealing with decisively,' said Gauteng DCS spokesperson Ofentse Morwane. ALSO CHECK: Youth Day sports event aims to tackle crime through fun and fitness At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
