Ostriches, former coach settle contractual dispute
Lebogang Mosikare | Friday December 11, 2020 15:39
The club has entered into a consent draft order with its former employee, Otsile Chippa Koosele, for breach of employment contract.
Koolese is the third ex-employee that the club paid for breach of employment contract this year.
The Ostriches, as the football club is also popularly known in soccer circles, settled its protracted contractual dispute with its former assistant coach, Koolese, on Wednesday at the Francistown High Court before Justice Phadi Solomon.
According to Koolese’s particulars of claim filed in Court entitled “Claim A”, sometimes on or about September 1, 2014, plaintiff and defendant entered into a written agreement contract of employment in terms of which the defendant employed the plaintiff as an assistant coach. “The material terms of the aforesaid agreement were amongst other things, that the contract was for a period of two years commencing on September 1, 2014 and terminating on August 30, 2016. The defendant will pay the plaintiff a total package of P112, 460, 00 per annum. It was further implied in the term of the agreement that the plaintiff shall be entitled to at least 25 days of leave and gratuity for the worked period. The plaintiff worked for the entire duration of contract. The defendant breached the agreement in that it failed to pay the plaintiff for accrued leave and gratuity for the period of the contract,” said Koolese in his claim.
In Koolese’s other claim titled “Claim B”, he said that sometimes on or about July 1, 2017, he entered into a written agreement of employment with the defendant.
“The terms and conditions thereof were inter alia: the defendant hired the plaintiff, defendant was to pay the plaintiff the sum of P160,460 per annum, the agreement was of a period of one year, each party may terminate the agreement by submitting a 30-days notice and the agreement is governed by the laws. The defendant is in breach of the parties’ agreement in that it unilaterally terminated the agreement without giving the plaintiff notice. The plaintiff is therefore entitled to payment in lieu of notice payment for the balance of the outstanding period of the contract accrued leave and severance benefits. Despite demand defendant has failed and or neglected to pay the plaintiff,” said Koolese. As such, Koolese was claiming payment of severance benefit, payment of accrued leave and costs of the suit in Claim A.
In Claim B, Koolese prayed with the court to grant him payment in the sum of P13, 371, 00 in lieu of leave, payment in the sum of P80, 226 being six months of the parties’ outstanding duration of the contract, accrued leave for the period worked and severance benefits for the period of the contract.
Although the club had initially entered a notice to defend the suit, it later entered into a consent draft order to pay the plaintiff compensation for four months salary as at December 2017, pay the plaintiff severance benefits in respect of contract A and contract B as per claim A and claim B and also agreed to pay P30,000 as costs of the suit.
The genesis of Koolese’s legal troubles with his former club can be traced to 2016 when he experienced a medical condition that kept him out of work for the whole year. When he returned from his sick leave, he agreed a one-year contract with the club.
Koolese then served six months of the contract before he was sacked.
His ‘unfair dismissal’ matter was first reported to the labour authorities at his home village of Serowe. It was after he had joined his home side, Miscellaneous.
He coached Miscellaneous until the end of last season.
Following delays, the Serowe authorities resolved they could not hear the matter as it occurred outside their jurisdiction. They referred the coach to Letlhakane labour authorities. The matter was deemed invalid due to the time factor and dismissed.
However, it never rains but it pours for the Orapa township based club.
The club was recently ordered to pay its former player, Lesego Galenamotlhale, P100, 000 after he successfully argued his case against the club at the Botswana Football Association Dispute Resolution Chamber.
Earlier this year, the world football governing body, FIFA, also ordered the club to pay its former coach, Tomas Trucha, money reported to be over P100, 000 for unfair dismissal.