The saga characterising the sale of the Lions of the North rages on with one of the club chiefs taking a swipe at a fellow shareholder
Highlands Park co-chairman Brad Kaftel has dismissed protests by one of the club directors, Sinky Mnisi, against the sale of the club, saying the acquisition of their Premier Soccer League (PSL) status by TS Galaxy is irreversible.
Highlands Park has been confirmed as having been sold to GladAfrica Championship side TS Galaxy, but the PSL declined to process their transaction as it did not satisfy the Companies Act.
Co-director Mnisi has vowed to block the sale of the club, alleging it as a clandestine deal from which he was excluded.
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But Kaftel has hit back, saying the sale has already gone through and cannot be reversed, while he also swatted aside some claims of racism dragged into the matter.
“The sale is proceeding one way or the other. You must understand that we’ve already handed the players over to Sukazi [on Monday], and there’s no turning back,” said Kaftel as per SunSport.
“Sinky owns 20 percent, then our other highly respected black professional owns 31% [name withheld), I own 29 percent and Larry Brookstone owns 20 percent. Then if someone brings in the racial connotation to these things, I just say rubbish.
“This is not a setback. The deal will go through. The truth is that Sinky has got all the information that he needed. Sinky has always had a one-hour meeting with me every Tuesday for the past six years. His lawyer requested the other information of which I have emailed to him. Nothing has been withheld.
“If you’re wearing a shareholder’s hat, then the sale must go through. There’s no shareholder who should think the sale must not go through. The company has got debts and had to borrow money to pay for its loss. Now you have an opportunity to settle 90 percent of the debts.”
The new Highlands Park establishment has already sprung to action, releasing some of the players including captain Tapuwa Kapini, Limbikani Mzava and former Orlando Pirates star Musa Nyatama.
The team will relocate to Mpumalanga and will not be taking coach Owen Da Gama along, who has been replaced by Dan Malesela.
“In my personal capacity I don’t want to lose this club, Tembisa people and all the football that we sponsor in Tembisa. But we will have to go for it, for now,” Kaftel said.
“It’s emotional and disheartening. To our supporters, we apologise, we’re as heart sore as you, we share your pain, we understand, be patient.”
The sale of Highlands Park comes as Da Gama guided them to an unbeaten run in the PSL bio-bubble.
