MP Warns Tafic Bosses Against Greediness
Chakalisa Dube | Monday August 3, 2015 14:23
Speaking at the club’s fund raising dinner held at Adansonia Hotel on Friday, Billy said lack of professionalism and greediness among some senior officials are the reasons the club has failed to maintain the good performance it was known for in yester years.
“For the past few years, the club has become known for misuse of funds and lack of accountability because of some greedy senior officials who want to serve their own interests. “If officials do not get rid of their greediness and begin accounting for things especially finances, the club’s fortunes will continue to wane. There is no investor or sponsor who can fork out a lot of money to help a club that cannot account for its finances,” a visibly worried Billy said.
Billy also said lack of transparency and not listening to the supporters are other major reasons the club fortunes have been dwindling in recent years.
“If there is no transparency, supporters lose confidence in the club and end up abandoning it. Without supporters, the club cannot survive because they are one of the major revenue streams for the team. Supporters should also be listened to because they are customers of the team,” he said.
The MP also noted that the club should screen those who want to challenge for leadership positions to ensure that only those with quality leadership skills assume the reigns (of leading the team).
TAFIC branding and marketing manager, Tebogo Toteng said the club has embarked on a very ambitious re-branding strategy in a bid to change its fortunes. He noted that this season the club’s merchandise would be visible in most areas around the country.
“We have broken the trust of the corporate world and the public. We want to restore that trust,” Toteng said before a near capacity crowd. As part of restoring the trust of the business sector and the public towards TAFIC, Toteng said the club’s finances are run through a trust account at Ndawana attorneys.
“For the first time in a long time, we started pre-season early than other clubs in the city. This shows that the club now takes itself seriously and want to restore the confidence and trust it has lost from its stakeholders,” he added.
Furthermore, he said the club is targeting automatic promotion this season. “We have kept the bulk of players who did duty for the team last season in a bid to boost our promotion bid. Keeping players shows that we are serious about changing the fortunes of the team,” he said.
Toteng stated that the club would continue to host fundraising activities in order to boost its financial position. “We want to pump in a lot of money at the club in order to keep the players happy and run our affairs with ease.” Meanwhile, the club vice chairman Emmanuel Tabona has said the club has agreed with some sponsors to back TAFIC for the new season. He said a detailed announcement would be made in due course. At the dinner, several businesses and individuals pledged cash amounting to P27 000 to the club.