The two factions fighting for the control of the club faced off at Lobatse High Court a fortnight ago with representatives of the society seeking some reliefs against the company, Mochudi Centre Chiefs Pty Ltd.
However, the two parties only argued on the issue of urgency and the High Court ruled that the matter will not be heard on urgency basis. Addressing the supporters at the general meeting held at Segale Primary School in Mochudi on Saturday, Attorney Khumiso Tshephe said although they feel hard done by the ruling, considering the arguments and reasons they put forward, they have advised the club’s interim committee not to appeal.
She said the Court of Appeal has only four sessions in a year.
She explained that if they were to appeal the ruling, they would first have to ask for leave to appeal and by the time the whole process comes to an end, the case might be allocated to next year’s April session. “So we have advised that we proceed with the case, not on urgency, but we will ask for the same reliefs,” she said.
She further said they will only appeal the ruling on the issue of costs, which have been handed to the society’s attorneys.
She said the reasons why they initially wanted the matter to be heard on urgency basis was because they wanted the society to be given back the control to run the team. She also said some agreements are ongoing between the company currently running the team and other parties, which may be detrimental to the society by the time the team returns to it.
She said at the time, the transfer window was open and agreements were being made between the players and the company without the involvement of the society. She stated that such decisions are taken by the company on behalf of the society and might come back to haunt the latter when the team eventually returns to the society.
The society does not only want the company to return the team, but also stop using the logo, which they said, was acquired “fraudulently”. “At CIPA, the logo and name belong to the company, how they acquired them is what we want the court to establish,” she said.
Tshephe said according to the documents, those that acted on the transformation and transfer of properties belonging to the society acted outside their mandate.
She said there are no documents that show that the general membership made such a resolution including the shareholding in the company.
Meanwhile,interim chairperson, Victor Kobe assured the supporters who gathered at Segape Primary School hall that the society is still very much in existence. He said since they were voted into the office two months ago, they have done everything to fight for the club and will continue to do so with the support of the general membership. “I plead with you to be patient, because we are taking a very long rough ride and we need your support,” he said.
