Charges against controversial Springbok loose forward Luke Watson have been dismissed, Independent Online reported on Tuesday.
It said the SA Rugby Union on Tuesday failed to show that the presiding officer in the matter had the authority to hear the case in the first place.
The issue related to controversial comments the Bok flanker reportedly made at the Ubumbo Rugby Club at UCT last month.
The hearing lasted 90 minutes, with the presiding officer, attorney Nape Dolamo, agreeing with Watson’s legal counsel, Jeremy Gauntlett SC and Matthew Blumberg.
Watson’s father, Cheeky, told IOL the way Saru had targeted his son was “madness”.
Watson hired a heavyweight advocate for the case whose clients have included Nelson Mandela.
Advocate Gauntlett represented him after he landed in the hot water for allegedly saying he wanted to vomit on the Springbok jersey and for allegedly calling Afrikaners “Dutchmen”.
Beeld reported that Gauntlett’s services are believed to cost about R30,000 per day.
Gauntlett has, among others, represented former president Mandela in the past.
He also acted for Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change when it opposed Robert Mugabe’s victory in presidential elections in 2002.
Saru has appointed Dekker Govender as the judicial officer to investigate the claims against Watson.
Govender referred the case to judge Lex Mpati, the chairman of Saru’s judicial committee, after he found that Saru’s code of conduct may have been violated.
The hearing was held Saru’s office at Newlands, Cape Town.
