Vikings lose patience over case delays
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday January 24, 2020 14:06
The club approached the BNSC seeking to overturn the ban imposed by Botswana Softball Association (BSA) over taking the mother body to court.
Vikings lawyer, Yul Shara Moncho of Moncho wa Moncho Attorneys said they feel the BNSC was not giving the matter the urgency it deserves.
“BNSC is silent and I feel they want to avoid the matter. We will be approaching the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC) permanent secretary for intervention,” he said.
Moncho added that they had given BNSC a timeline which has long passed. BNSC executive assistant, Steady Basupang told Mmegi Sport that the matter is sub judice and cannot be discussed.
“The matter can only be discussed by Vikings but legally they are not supposed to talk about it,” he said.
Meanwhile, BSA president, Thabo Thamane told a special general meeting that the club had lost a case at the High Court and the association invoked a clause in its constitution regarding affiliates that take the association to court.
“We have to look at our constitution during constitutional review to make sure that there are no contradictions. We gave Vikings the hearing process and we were going back and forth on certain issues but at the end of the day we took a decision based on our constitution,” he explained.
Thamane said the club has appealed and the BSA is waiting for the matter to be heard and it cannot be discussed before a decision is made. He revealed that the club has been suspended for two years and they would be accepted back at the end of the suspension.
Vikings approached the Lobatse High Court after BSA barred it from registering for the 2019 Phikwe Softball Extravaganza held over the President’s Day holidays.
The tiff started when the BSA southern zone committee refused to register Vikings for the tournament’s eliminators, after they failed to meet the registration deadline. The club approached the executive committee to reverse the decision.
According to the minutes of the hearing, the issue for consideration was whether the zone elimination registration was procedural. “Vikings argued that the notice from the zone had stated that registration would be during the annual general meeting from 9am-10am and the notice did state that after 10am it would be closed,” reads part of the appeal minutes.
Vikings chairperson, Eng Mpotokwane who represented the club at the hearing, submitted during the appeal that she arrived 15 minutes late and she was denied to register by the treasurer.