SARFU president Silas Nkanunu quit just 24 hours after Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli and SA Rugby managing director Rian Oberholzer had stood down in the face of growing scandal over revelations regarding training methods used prior to the World Cup as well as the team's relatively poor performance at the tournament.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the beleaguered union, Nkanunu cited a combination of the Springboks' failure to either change their culture or improve under his leadership as the main reason for his decision.
He stated: "In the area of the Springbok team we have failed to achieve the transformation or the performance results which we set ourselves when I took over as president. It is fair to suggest that leadership should accept responsibility for failure to achieve those goals. This happened during my watch."
Nkanunu had been scheduled to face a leadership challenge from his vice president, Brian van Rooyen.
The governance of South African rugby is in disarray after the resignation of three top executives, including the president of the South African Rugby Football Union.
