Former Springbok wing Bryan Habana. Picture: Gallo Images Springbok rugby icon Bryan Habana has opened up about one of the most difficult times in his life – when he discovered his father, Bernie, had stolen money from him. The two have effectively not had a relationship since 2010, when Habana found out.
In an emotional podcast with the UK-based podcast,Business of Sportrecently, Habana revealed he had trusted his father to handle his financial affairs for him “from an early age”. Although he was receiving a salary as a professional rugby player, Habana relied on Bernie to handle the huge extra income which came from sponsorships and endorsement contracts. Habana said he believed Bernie had set up a Bryan Habana Trust which would handle the extra income… but this was never done.
He only discovered this later. All the money from his extra deals should have been going into this trust but it was “going into my dad’s bank account”. He recalled having to contact individual sponsors at the end of 2009, and let them know he was no longer allowing his father to negotiate his contracts.
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When he tackled his father about it, Habana said he denied he had received any money, “but I had the contract in front of me… “It was tough.” When asked to confirm whether his father had pocketed the money, Bryan answered: “Yeah. They were living off it.” The star winger said the first person to raise the issue of Bernie running all his financial affairs was Janine, who would later become his wife.
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