South Africa Football Players Union (SAFPU) have condemned the act of violence aganist Kenyan International, Clifton Miheso, calling investigators to get into the bottom of the matter that involved the Golden Arrows midfielder.
Miheso alleged that he was forced to sign contract termination letter at a gun point at the club offices on 14th January 2017 infront of the club chairperson Manto Madlala after he insisted that he could put his signature only in presence of his manager.
In a long statement released this morning by SAFPU, the organization expressed shock that no action has been made so far by the club chairperson nor the investigators regarding to the issue.
” The South African Football Players Union (SAFPU) wrote a letter to the Chairperson of Golden Arrows seeking clarity on the alleged incident but the response from Manto Madlala was neither here nor there, it did not speak to the fundamental question raised by the Union of footballers neither did her response dispute that the allegations took place.This poisonous issue centres on the rights of the workers in this country the freedom of expression and the right for players to either accept or reject certain conditions relating to their contractual matters”, part of statement reads.
The organisation has also boadly accused the South Africa Football Association (SAFA) for failure to act on Miheso case even after they were notified on time.
“Incidents like these undermine the contractual stability not only in SA but on the continent and abroad.We have also copied SAFA on our correspondence and they never had the decency to acknowledge our letter and yet we are expected to regard them as a football authority in this country. Their attitude suggests that they are an authority yes, but an authority that is captured and has no interest of football at heart in this country. We hope they will come to their senses and investigate this matter with the view to provide a solution,”another part reads.
The body also condemned the investigators for the laxity and called those concerned to speed up the matter so that the problem can be solved.
“It is our held view that the investigations will get to the bottom of this matter and those who are found to have transgressed any rule or law should face the might of the law. The investigations will do one of the two, uphold the allegations as truthful or reject the claims made, if the claims are rejected surely South Africa will continue to be seen as the country that champions and respects the right of the workers and if not then the law must take its course”.
SAFPU also called the Golden Arrows to act and save their image by taking action to those who were accused on forcing Miheso to sign the document.
” If the Chairperson of Golden Arrows champions and aligns herself to the principled ethics of the labour laws of the land, if she distances herself from the barbaric conduct exercised by her employees and was disgusted like the rest of us when we heard these embarrassing sickening reports, if she deeply cares about the wellbeing of her players as the Owner of Golden Arrows why have we not heard news that the perpetrators ( Mr Masondo and company) have been fired with immediate effect because that is the only punishment that best fits the nature of this crime.”
After the incidence,Golden Arrows later produced a letter that they claimed was signed by the player stating that no such incident happened.
Miheso joined Golden Arrows in May last year.Internationally he has been capped 28 times by Kenya and played an important role in the team in the past year with his blistering pace and deft left foot providing Stars with an attacking option.
