Jadezweni Gets Test Appointment
In fact he is third new Test referee this year and all three have done so up north – Rasta Rasivhenge in Uganda, Jaco van Heerden in Kenya and now Jadezweni in Kenya, a year after his close friend Marius van der Westhuizen.
The Test is on Saturday between Kenya and Hong Kong. The referee had been expected to be from the United Arab Emirates but on Friday Banks Yantolo, the manager of South African referees, phoned to tell Jadezweni, usually called JD, that he was going to Nairobi. He leaves this Friday via Johannesburg.
One of his assistants at the Test will be Constant Cap of Kenya, who attended the January session of South African referees in Newlands.
He is excited, of course, and looking forward to the occasion. Also excited is Ben Theron, the manager of Western Province referees. Like Rasivhenge, Jadezweni is a member of the Western Province Referees' Society. Theron has earmarked 7 September for Jadezweni's blazer ceremony.
Jadezweni is an employee of the South African Rugby's Unions and his CEO, Jurie Roux, said of the appointment: "This is a great achievement for JD.
“We are very proud of him and we wish him luck for his Test debut this weekend. He is an extremely dedicated and hard-working referee and he has made steady strides in his career in the last few years, so being awarded his first Test is just reward for all his hard work."
Jadezweni was born in Stellenbosch (His father lectures at the university) and will turn 30 on 2 October this year. His primary school was Rhenish just down the road and then he went to Parel Vallei not far away in Somerset West. Then he went on to Stellenbosch University to study sports science. There he played rugby and started refereeing in the koshuis league, which he enjoyed.
In 2010 he joined the Western Province Society and the progress of the tall, athletic, gentle man has been remarkable. In 2011 he was on the Contenders Squad of promising referees and the next year he was appointed to the National Panel. This year he was appointed to the Elite Panel of South African referees, which means that he is ranked in the top ten referees in South Africa.
He has already had good experiences. Along with Renier Vermeulen, he refereed top club matches in Argentina in 2014. Last year, when he was twice chosen as the referee of the month in South Africa, he refereed the Under-21 Final. Just recently he was one of eight referees who refereed in World Rugby's Under-20 World Championship in Manchester.
All referees would want to wish him well.
