{"id":599734,"date":"2025-06-24T13:02:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T11:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=599734"},"modified":"2025-06-24T19:29:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T17:29:41","slug":"the-legendary-springbok-called-the-rolls-royce-of-fullbacks-who-became-a-telecommunications-and-it-entrepreneur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/business\/599734-the-legendary-springbok-called-the-rolls-royce-of-fullbacks-who-became-a-telecommunications-and-it-entrepreneur.html","title":{"rendered":"The legendary Springbok, called the ‘Rolls-Royce of Fullbacks’, who became a telecommunications and IT entrepreneur"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Former World Cup-winning Springbok Andr\u00e9 Johan Joubert is the co-founder and owner of office automation and telecommunications company 3C Technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three-decade-old firm has stood the test of time despite initially being established as a backup plan for when Joubert\u2019s rugby-playing days were over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joubert was born in Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal on 15 April 1964. After matriculating in 1981, he pursued a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of the Free State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a student, he made his debut for the Free State provincial rugby team in 1986. He would go on to play 93 Currie Cup matches for the province. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this period, he also had to complete two years of compulsory military training at the School of Armour in Bloemfontein. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joubert moved to Durban in 1991 and worked in banking for four years. At that point, he had already played his first match for the Springboks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He would go on to feature in the victorious 1995 Rugby World Cup team, including in the final against the All Blacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joubert played an instrumental role in the match, despite having picked up a broken hand in the quarter-final against Western Samoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The year after the historic victory, Joubert and Steve Cooper co-founded KZN Konica Minolta as a distributor and servicing provider for the printing company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with the YouTube channel Front Row Rugby, Joubert explained that the business emerged as a backup plan for when he could no longer play rugby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time, rugby in South Africa was still transitioning from amateur to semi-professional careers, with many players still having other full-time jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joubert explained he had to resign from his banking job because he could no longer put in the required hours. This was a considerable risk, as a serious injury could have cost him his earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I started my own business. I realised I have got to start something now so that the day when it finished, I had something to fall back on,” Joubert said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expanding beyond printers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Former Springbok flyhalf Andre Joubert posing with one of his Springbok jerseys at the 3C Technology offices in Durban. Credit: Keith Ross<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

KZN Konica Minolta would later be rebranded to 3C Technology as its product offering expanded to include voice, WAN, IP PBX, voice conferencing, and hosting solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Konica Minolta, it distributes products from major technology companies, including Microsoft, Dell, HP, and Yealink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to its website, the company operates 70 service centres, 412 qualified service engineers, and 10,000 users across South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a rugby player, Joubert is fondly remembered as \u201cThe Rolls-Royce of Fullbacks\u201d for his seemingly effortless style and pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YouTube channel Real Rugby described Joubert as \u201csafe as a rock\u201d under the high ball with a \u201chighly educated\u201d left booth and an ability to join an attacking line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He played 34 matches for the Springboks during the 1990s. He amassed 115 test points, coming off 10 tries, 17 penalties, and seven conversions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joubert played his last match for the Springboks in a 61-22 win against Australia’s Wallabies in 1997. His last provincial match for the Sharks was in 1999, after 96 Currie Cup caps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joubert also captained the South African Sevens team in 1992 and featured in several Barbarians and World XV teams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While he may be best known for his rugby career, Joubert is also fond of golf. On his LinkedIn page, he mentions having hit six hole-in-ones as among his proudest achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joubert has also participated in various charity fund-raising activities, including several golf days and jersey auctions with proceeds going to charitable causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Joubert in the Green and Gold<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Joubert and former Springbok scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen were roommates during the 1995 World Cup.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Joubert with members of the 1995 World Cup winning team in 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Joubert with the East Coast Radio team for a jersey action raising funds for a toy drive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Joubert with professional golf player Louis Oosthuizen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
3C Technology signage at a golf day <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former World Cup-winning Springbok Andr\u00e9 Johan Joubert is the co-founder and owner of office automation and telecommunications company 3C Technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":599749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[100273,3034,1555,30694,2938],"class_list":["post-599734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-3c-technology","tag-andre-joubert","tag-konica-minolta","tag-rugby","tag-springboks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599734"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599734"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":599784,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599734\/revisions\/599784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}