D-day in Rollers� ownership case
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday September 5, 2014 12:29
The applicants, through their lawyer, Tefo Sibanda, are seeking an order rendering the change of the society (Rollers Football Club) to a private company null and void.
Motivating the application in July, Sibanda said the decision to turn the society into a company was agreed in principle but could only be done after the amendment of the constitution.
He had also argued that a task force was to be appointed to oversee the process of privatisation. Another meeting was to be convened in February last year where the resolutions of the November 2012 meeting were to be confirmed.
“There was never a meeting held as had been agreed. Instead, Somerset Gobuamang (Rollers boss) wrote a letter to the Registrar of Societies seeking to change the status of the club from a society into a company,” Sibanda argued in July.
Defendant’s lawyer, Kgosietsile Ngakayagae countered saying the letter written by Gobuiwang was an error and that there was a retraction, which the applicants’ lawyer was fully aware of. He said that contrary to what Sibanda said, Rollers has never changed from a society to a company.
“It is not for us to prove to this court that the society (Rollers) exists because we did not make this application,” Ngakayagae said.
He added that the society still exists and is a shareholder in Township Holdings. He said the decision to form a company that the society can trade under was long taken in 2007 when the executive committee was directed to implement the resolution of the annual general meeting held the previous year.
Ngakayagae challenged some of the applicants’ membership of the club. He said the applicants have nothing to show that they are members of Rollers. He wondered why Seisa would regard himself as a member of Rollers just because he served in the committee as far back as 1996. However, Sibanda argued that Seisa and the other applicants are members of the club.