There was a previous attempt to bring a team from the Eastern Cape into the competition, the franchise was the Southern Spears. That effort failed, and caused a lot of bitterness.
The Lions had to be kicked out to allow the Kings to get into the SA Conference this year, again a lot of controversy and bitterness.
The President of the local union is Cheeky Watson, a white man who outraged the then rugby establishment by playing rugby in the coloured competition (in the apartheid era), and
who is revered by the black rugby community now, as a consequence. An attempt was made to get his son, Luke, into the 2007 World Cup squad, but Jake White refused to have him on the grounds that he was not good enough. That is thought to be one reason that White lost his national coaching position, even though he won the Cup.
The above is my best understanding, others with a better and more topical knowledge of the subject, please update, and accept my apologies where I am incorrect.
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