Satmos to be privatized

ERNEST KELAPILE
Correspondent | Wednesday February 28, 2007 00:00

 

In the meantime, the officials have agreed to hand over control to former national goalkeeper, Mooketsi 'China' Mading. The conditions of the impending privatisation are still being worked out.  In a recent meeting to brief supporters, the management explained that it has been finding it difficult to run the club hence the decision to privatise. Publicity officer Mpenzeni Sambandawe told Mmegi Sport after the meeting that supporters agreed to the proposal.

'They appreciated where we are coming from and agreed to the change,' he said. He explained that the supporters are aware that the club has been running on a shoe-string budget and players could go for months without pay. 'My committee is fairly new and when we assumed office a few months ago, we found the team account with zero balance and on the other hand there were a lot of debts. I must admit that when we came in, there was no proper handover and there are no reports from the previous committee on how they were running the affairs of the club,' he explained. He said they depend on gate takings to make ends meet. 'It's a pathetic situation. That is why most often, I keep encouraging people to go to the stadium because that is how we make money to run the club,' Sambandawe said.

When news of the club's privatisation broke out, some people doubted whether it is viable. They thought there were individuals who wanted to grab the club to satisfy their personal interests. However, Mmegi Sport has since learnt that at the briefing, many people appreciated the idea.

They (people) were happy that supporters have been given a platform to put across their suggestions. Satmos is rooted at the bottom of the 16-team league with only 12 points from 17 games. They are favourites for relegation unless they overhaul their act drastically in the hope that its relegation rivals falter.