Bryan Habana has revealed that he has not had a relationship with his father for 15 years after he mismanaged the Springboks legend\u2019s funds.<\/p>\n
South Africa\u2019s record try-scorer appeared on the Business of Sport podcast to discuss his life and career when he spoke about how trust broke down with his dad.<\/p>\n
The 42-year-old thought he was the person he could put the most faith in, but that proved to be not the case.<\/p>\n
Misplaced trust<\/p>\n
\u201cTrust is a massive element that\u2019s not always easy. When you\u2019re young, who are the people you trust? Is it your parents? Is it your family? A lawyer?\u201d Habana<\/a> said.<\/p>\n \u201cTrust is a really difficult thing to understand and my trust rested with my dad, who was managing that side of my life for a very young age, only to find out eight years later that the trust I thought I had was not being had.<\/p>\n \u201cI unfortunately lost quite a bit of money because of one person I thought I could trust, who mismanaged my funds and used it for his own over the course of eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n Habana\u2019s father was tasked with managing his commercial deals, but it was the Springbok<\/a> legend\u2019s now wife who first suspected that something could be up.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the first things she said when we started going on our journey together was, \u2018how do you manage your finances?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, \u2018sorry, who are you and why?\u2019 I just had a feeling that she feels I\u2019ve got to manage my money better.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad was managing it and I trusted him but she was like, \u2018are you sure that\u2019s the right thing?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n SA Rugby boss hails the impact of Rassie Erasmus in \u2018creating golden era of South African rugby\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n It then came to a head when Habana and Janine Viljoen got married in June 2009, with the former wing star becoming suspicious of his father\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we got married, I wanted a quiet, intimate wedding and my dad sat me and Janine down, \u2018oh, you can\u2019t do this, you\u2019re like the Will and Kate of South Africa, you have to have this public marriage\u2019. I\u2019m like, \u2018no we don\u2019t\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI had obviously put a lot of trust in my dad and I believed the best. We then went on this journey of sort of having this public wedding, which we had zero control over, so my dad was managing everything and it just became an absolute s***show.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the Friday night, Janine was crying because her mother had been lambasted by my dad and the event organiser of the wedding phoned me and was like, \u2018listen, I\u2019m not being paid\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI phoned my dad \u2013 we\u2019d also had a bit of an argument \u2013 but he was like, \u2018I will sort it out\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Going from Bulls to the Stormers<\/p>\n The wedding also came at a time when Habana was making the high-profile switch from the Bulls to the Stormers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we finally got married our wedding day was amazing but there was a real behind-the-scenes sadness for the both of us,\u201d he told the Business of Sport<\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cI had signed to go to the Stormers from the Bulls, which was also horrible \u2013 it was going north to south \u2013 and we had to put down a deposit on a house.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad was managing all my commercial elements so I was still getting my rugby contract salary and my dad was managing my commercial sponsorships.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018listen, I need to take a chunk out of my nest egg because I need to buy a house\u2019, as houses in Cape Town are a lot more expensive than houses in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n \u201cHe goes, \u2018it\u2019s cool, it\u2019s coming\u2019. The more I\u2019d ask the more the money wasn\u2019t coming. At that point the estate agent in Cape Town went, \u2018if you don\u2019t pay the deposit now, you\u2019re going to lose the house\u2019, and it was our dream home.\u201d<\/p>\n