Does Wits sale reduce PSL administrators to rubber stampers?

I must clearly state that I have no qualms about Wits being sold and I am happy to have new people in our football but their introduction has been worrisome. But it would be unfair to expect the people from Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila to shoulder any of the blame for the mess that the sale became.

It was whoever handled it for Wits that failed to do things in a respectable and professional manner. Yes, Tshakhuma people did make it difficult when they made public pronouncements on the impending sale, but it was just the excitement on their side. It is very difficult to sit on some good news that excites you.

The players and staff at Wits were the casualties of the ineptness of the management. They could have been informed in time that there is a possibility that the club will sell its status. They could have have been prepared better for this obvious loss of jobs. But for them to hear of such from the media was totally wrong. And I hope they will at least be properly compensated.

I don’t see many of them – if any at all – making the trek to Thohoyandou, where the club will now be based. The new owners have already said they will be unable to keep coach Gavin Hunt because of the high salary he was on. But I wonder if they even sat down with him to find out if he was keen to retain his position and if moving to Venda and taking a salary cut is something he could consider. My guess is no, that consultation process never happened.

Players and staff have family in Jozi and inasmuch as a job is almost more important than family these days. They have to make considerations for their loved ones before accepting offers to move to the semi-rural Venda district of Limpopo.

And that is not something you think about in a matter of days. You need time to consider every option before deciding if you will or not move with the club.

I just don’t get why the club would give a player like Thulani Hlatshwayo a four-year extension to his contract when they were already in talks to sell their status. My guess would be that it was because of a lack of communication between the bosses and managers who ran the club on a daily basis or that they were setting Hlatshwayo up.

He now has a four-year deal he can’t easily get out of and could be forced to move to Venda and leave his family behind. That is not too difficult for he is a football player and that is the life for them. But does he want to?

And the fact that the new owners are almost new to football and there are no guarantees that they will be able to sustain the club makes it a worry. Can they even afford to keep Hlatswayo or will they sell him to the highest bidder to make some money?

I am now waiting on the Premier Soccer League’s response to all this when it starts. From where I am standing, they haven’t been involved in the matter so far.

And it looks like they will be forced to accept and approve which makes them no different than the guy who sits at the Post Office and rubber stamps letters all day.

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