HIGHLANDERS members’ efforts to have their annual general meeting (AGM) at the end of the month could suffer a major blow as board chairman Mgcini Nkolomi yesterday appealed to members for calm, saying factionalism and politics could be the major undoing for the club.
SUKOLUHLE MTHETHWA SPORTS REPORTER About 70 Bosso members are reported to have signed a petition which seeks to amend section 16 of the constitution which states that the AGM should be held in January.
The members are pushing for the AGM to be held at the end of this month and the elections next month.
Nkolomi spoke to Southern Eye Sport yesterday on a number of issues that are affecting the club.
“As a board we are the custodians of the club,” he said.
“We encourage and respect members’ views and understand the context in which they are doing this.
“This is not an effort to thwart aspirations of members. Our worry is that if that is allowed to happen then it will be counterproductive.
“The AGM is a platform where all those things can be brought up with due notice.”
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He said a petition signals that members feel they have not been given the platform to air their views.
“Petitions signify a stalemate,” he said. “We don’t feel that there is a stalemate. We don’t feel that members have been denied the opportunity to express their views. As a board we appeal for calm.
“Members must exercise their duties in a responsible manner to maintain stability and credibility of the club. Having said that this is an example of a concern by members, but they might be so many other issues that need to be addressed. A petition can address the symptom but not the problem.”
The Highlanders board chairperson added: “You can’t just wake up and say you want to change things at Highlanders. You need to consult widely. Members must not be emotional but to look at things in a broader perspective. This is not the time to point fingers and blame each other.”
“We need to look at the Highlanders system in a holistic manner and not address symptoms.”
The Highlanders boss said a lot needed to be done if the club was to go forward.
“What is apparent now is that if we don’t become focused and strategic, we will only be addressing symptoms,” he said.
“We need to do a lot of introspection rather than become myopic or blow things out of proportion. The members are exercising their rights because they are bona fide Highlanders members.
“They need assurance that their concerns are being looked into. However, we don’t want to create precedence.”
Nkolomi said the notion that a new chairman must bring his own coach was destroying the club.
“We don’t want to perpetuate a crisis by saying a chairman who comes in must bring his own coach,” he said.
“In other words, we will be saying we are not an institution. There is no continuity in the club that is why we are in such a mess; it creates a lot of problems.
“The coach must be chosen by the system. The chairman is not a system. He does not employ a coach on his own.”
Nkolomi added: “It is wrong when it is said Kelvin Kaindu was appointed by Themba Ndlela. It is the system that employed him. We don’t want factionalism because this will create loopholes for people to have their deals outside the system.”
“We are appealing to members to come forward in a structured manner and strategise looking into the future. Politics is the major problem in the club.”
