Louis Luyt

Louis Luyt is a South African business tycoon and politician, and one-time rugby administrator.

Making a name for himself as a rugby star as a young man, Luyt went on to found Triomf Fertiliser, Luyt Breweries, and to take control of Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg. Distrusted by the Afrikaner elite, Luyt achieved financial success without being a member of the secretive Broederbond.

He was president of the South African Rugby Union when the Springboks, the national team, won the Rugby 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 the New Zealand All 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 the 1987 tournament won by the All Blacks. In response, the All Blacks walked out of the dinner. During that same dinner, he also caused controversy by publicly thanking referee Derek 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 [Frenchman Abdelatif Benazzi ] had grounded the ball over the tryline on the slow motion action replay" (there was at the time no television 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.

In 1998, Luyt resigned as rugby union president after being accused of racism and financial mismanagement, and formed a political party. He was a member of Parliament as leader of the Federal Alliance from 1999. More recently, Dr Luyt brought FA into association with Vryheidsfront.