ASPIRING Highlanders chairperson Ndumo Nyathi is raring to kick-start his campaign for the February 4 election.
Nyathi will battle it out with incumbent Johnfat Sibanda, former chairperson Kenneth Mhlophe and businessman Eddison Dube in an election likely to feature the highest number of candidates in years.
Nyathi, a businessman with interests locally and outside the country, picked up his nomination papers yesterday after paying a US$200 fee and will have to convince 10 club members to endorse his nomination for the electoral court to acccept his candidature.
“I am coming from the office and it was smooth. I just went in there, introduced myself and told them I came here for my nomination forms and was directed to the other office for payment and back to the front office and got my forms. Now I am ready and now the onus is on me and the members who said that they believe that I can stand and they will do that by signing nomination forms,” Nyathi said.
The aspiring chairperson then spoke about his vision for the club and its sponsorship and finances.
“When it comes to issue of longevity and sustainability, we definitely need sponsors, we definitely need our members to come in and support the team. Personally my target is that there should be no year where we look for sponsors when we are empty-handed and have nothing in our coffers. This is my goal. At the end of each year, when we move to the next, we need, as a club and members to have something of our own. As we go out to look for more sponsors or more partners, as owners of the club, what do we have? This issue of just moving without even US$10 000 must come to end,” he said.
“We need to show as club owners that for the coming year, we have something, say US$5 000. I am not talking about gate takings or profits from the previous year, but I am talking about, when I come in (as chairperson) each and every year there should be a basket where the members will says use this money for next year as you talk to the sponsors. This is how I believe Highlanders should be moving and the club members are able to do that.”
Nyathi said he believes club members are the club’s potential sponsors.
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“But we are not living in a vacuum. Panic is bound to be there because in as much as you have this vision; let us have something by us to assist the club in the coming year. What I am saying is we need to have that reset where the members need to know that the club must operate. It is up to me as the leader to bring this down to my executive, working with the board to the secretariat to know that it is our responsibility beyond looking for sponsorship and partners to bring this down to the members that the first sponsors of the clubs are the members,” he added.
Highlanders will hold its annual general meeting on January 28, where candidates will be unveiled a week before the elections, where members will also vote for secretary-general and committee member.
