South African billionaires Johann Rupert, Patrice Motsepe back Bulls rugby boss's third term

South African billionaires Johann Rupert and Patrice Motsepe have backed Willem Strauss, the rugby administrator who brought them into the Bulls, after he was reelected unopposed for a third term as president of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union.

The Pretoria-based union announced the result on Tuesday. Strauss, who has led the union for eight years, is its longest-serving president of rugby's professional era, and his new term runs for four years.

"Willem has given us stability," said Rupert, who is co-majority shareholder of the Blue Bulls Company, the business that runs the professional team. He said that stability runs "through the whole ecosystem."

Motsepe, the other co-majority shareholder, credited Strauss for the results of the union's teams. "The performance of the clubs across the various leagues is testament to his leadership," he said. "We are proud of the world-class management structures in place."

The deal that brought in the billionaires

Strauss negotiated the 2019 deal that gave the two billionaires control of the Bulls' professional business. Rupert's investment company Remgro Ltd., which already owned half of the Blue Bulls Company, reduced its stake to make room for Motsepe. Remgro and Motsepe's African Rainbow Capital now each own 37% and manage the company together, while the union keeps 26%. The price was never disclosed.

Strauss regards the investment as the deal that secured the union's long-term future, and both men joined the board. The union governs the amateur and junior game in Pretoria and Limpopo, while the Blue Bulls Company runs the side that plays in the United Rugby Championship, the competition that pits South Africa's top teams against clubs from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy.

The Bulls have won two Currie Cup titles, South Africa's oldest domestic competition, under Strauss, in the 2020-21 season and in 2021, along with the Super Rugby Unlocked tournament in 2020. They have reached four United Rugby Championship finals in five seasons, though they lost all four, most recently going down 36-7 to Leinster at Croke Park in Dublin in June. They won the South African Shield, awarded to the best-placed South African team in the league, in the 2023-24 season.

Below the professional team, the union's women's side, the Bulls Daisies, are four-time national champions. Strauss helped revive the Gold Cup, a national club competition the Naka Bulle have won three years in a row, and brought back a tournament for rural clubs.

"His initiative and passion for rugby has taken our rugby to the next level," said Ben Eybers, a vice-president of the union, who has served on its executive alongside Strauss for nine years.

"I love everything about this role," Strauss said. He wants to make the Bulls the best rugby club in the world on and off the field.

Two of Africa's richest men

The Bulls are one of several sporting investments for both men. Motsepe, the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Group, also controls Mamelodi Sundowns, the Pretoria football club that shares Loftus Versfeld Stadium with the Bulls. He is serving his second term as president of the Confederation of African Football, has raised CAF's grants to member football associations by 33% and has said his current term will be his last.

Motsepe stepped down as executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals in February and remains its non-executive chairman. The mining company is in a legal fight with Assore over control of Assmang, the iron ore and manganese producer the two own equally, after Assore sued Motsepe's company this month.

Rupert chairs Remgro and Swiss luxury group Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, the owner of Cartier. Richemont is in talks to join a consortium bidding for diamond miner De Beers, and Rupert is set to collect $22.8 million in Remgro dividends.