Wave of optimism sweeps through TAFIC after takeover
Chakalisa Dube | Saturday January 28, 2023 06:00
In the late 1980s to early 1990s under the leadership of shrewd businessman, Geoffrey Maygillip, TAFIC was one of the most organised teams in the elite league.
It was a dream of every footballer growing up in the north to don the famous red and white jersey.
Whenever the club played, the city would come to a standstill. Maygillip ceased financing Matjimenyenga boys in the mid 1990s and since he left, owing to internal politics, the club has not experienced peace. It has not been able to compete for any meaningful honours. As a result, the 2002 Coca-Cola champions have spent time alternating between the First Division North and the Premier League.
This has been frustrating to some of the club's diehards.
Financial woes and lack of stability have largely been attributed to the club being run as a society. TAFIC temporarily lost its status as the most enterprising side in the north to Ecco City Greens between 2005 and 2010. ECCO entered the elite league in the 2004/2005 season. The club went on to become the first side from the north to win the national league title in 2007.
From 2012, the club hit a rough patch; that was after losing the financial backing of the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC). It would later fold. TAFIC continued soldiering on but financial troubles persisted. Around 2014, fans as well as other stakeholders finally started talk to privatise the club. That was seen as the panacea to the club’s financial problems. But there was lack of enthusiasm from the supporters and some within the leadership to privatise the club. The club ultimately found itself flirting with relegation to the Division One league last season, its lowest ever performance and only survived by a whisker. Its worst ever performance was once again attributed to lack of finances and operating the club as a society. Talk of privatising the club was immediately rekindled and this time around there was eagerness to execute the privatisation mandate.
The mission was finally fulfilled last December when local fuel logistics company, Petrohyper bought 90% of the club’s shares. Supporters retained a 10% stake. Petrohyper is owned by renowned businessman Ndinabo Setaelo. TAFIC chairperson, Tumelo Toteng admitted the club’s lowest ever performance necessitated a strong debate about giving the club to an investor in a bid to attain stability. The takeover is still taking shape but early signs according to those close to the Matjimenyenga indicate that the club is now in good hands. Foster Machola, who has been part of the club setup for over 10 years, believes that the takeover by Petrohyper will herald huge changes for the club.
Machola has held various leadership positions at TAFIC and was amongst those tasked with ensuring that the Petrohyper transaction is executed with ease. “The few people I have interacted with at the club since the takeover are excited. It is still early days, but there are few signs indicating that the new investor will bring massive changes at the club,” he said with a heavy bout of optimism.
“From a distance it is easy to tell that the players and employees at the club are well taken care of. In the past the club was often in the news for failing to honour contracts with players and coaches. I also have no doubt that the privatisation of TAFIC will inspire other clubs in the country to lease their clubs to investors. It is the best thing that has ever happened to the club since the Maygillip days.” Machola urged supporters to be patient with Petrohyper as transitioning from running a club as a society to a company is not easy.
The ownership between TAFIC and Petrohyper does not have a timeline but is guided by a few clauses. Petrohyper Corporate and Business Development director, Tshedukani Elijah also commented briefly in relation to the recent takeover of the club. “The immediate priority is to ensure that TAFIC returns to the Premier League. Obviously, the main objective is to ensure that the club becomes a stable entity. We are committed to achieving that objective but at the moment we are reluctant to talk to the media,” he said. TAFIC currently lead the First Division North league and will gain promotion to the elite league if they maintain their position until the end of the season.