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Jadezweni the Referee of the Month

PUBLISHED: April 3, 2014


He has been refereeing for only four years but already Cwengile Jadezweni is making rapid progress which saw the whistleman from Western Province named as South Africa’s Referee of the Month for March 2014.

Just recently he refereed a Vodacom Cup match – the Kenyans again Boland Cavaliers and in the near future he will share the refereeing in next Monday’s Varsity Cup Final with his colleague Marius van der Westhuizen.

Jadezweni is very much a Stellenbosch man. He was born in Stellenbosch on October 2, 1986, he went to primary school at Rhenish in Stellenbosch and for high school went down to road to Parel Vallei returning to study sports science at Stellenbosch University.

He is a Matie, and while he was studying he attended the Maties Referees Academy, for the university needs referees for its huge, enthusiastic Stellenbosch Koshuis League, which uses two referees in its top matches and has done so for many years. In fact, it started there in 1986, the year Jadezweni was born.

Jadezweni played rugby at Maties but injuries suggested that refereeing would be advisable – after operations to a shoulder and a knee.

Jadezweni is also tall, slender and athletic, and he loves refereeing. In 2010 he joined the Western Province Referee’s Society. In 12011 he was on the Contenders Panel for promising referees. In 2012 he was promoted to the National Panel, which means he is well inside the top 30 referees in South Africa.

He now works for Peter Schnetler as an analyst at Sound Sure where one of his colleagues is Marius van der Westhuizen. Amongst other things they do a vast amount for South African referees and have done so for years. Jadezweni and Van der Westhuizen will be combining to referee the Varsity Cup Final between the Pukke of Potchefstroom and the Ikeys of Cape Town University.

The two of them have already several two-referee matches and Jadezweni says: “I’m used to the two-referee systems because I have been doing it for some years whilst I was in Stellenbosch. So I think I had an advantage above all the other referees. I feel the systems of the two referees is the way forward.”

On deciding to become a referee, Jadezweni says: “I had always admired how referees portrayed themselves on and off the field and I mentioned referees such as Jonathan Kaplan, AndrĂ© Watson and a referee I have always looked up to since he used to referee my games while I was still in school, Quinton Immelman.”

Obviously he has had help along the way. He says: “I have had help from a lot of people but I think the ones that stand out are Hendrik Greyvenstein from the Maties Academy, SARRA, and my colleagues Francois Pretorius and Marius van der Westhuizen and my boss Peter Schnetler.”

Obviously he has heroes: “I have two heroes. The first is our General manager of referees AndrĂ© Watson and secondly there is my friend Quinton (Immelman).”

And he has ambition: “My goal and ambition is to referee in the Super Rugby competition and the game that I’ve always wanted to be involved in is the DHL Stormers against the Waratahs at DHL Newlands.”

What he finds tough in refereeing: “I would say the hardest of about refereeing is trying to get through to players that are negative and don’t really want to listen and understand the laws of the game.”

What he finds enjoyable about refereeing: “I enjoy the joy and fulfillment I see when the players enjoy themselves on the field and they come up to you and congratulate you regardless of whether or not it’s sincere.”

With thanks to www.sareferees.co.za