S.A players union confirms Miheso gun saga

Private investigations conducted by the South African Football Players Union (SAFPU) over a gun incident involving Kenyan international Clifton Miheso mirror those published by Citizen Digital on January 14, according to a statement from the union.

Miheso who was employed by South African Premier League Soccer (PSL) side Golden Arrows was allegedly forced to sign a termination letter at gun point just six months after moving from local giants AFC Leopards.

The union has taken a swipe at the South African Football Association failing to take a firm stance over the issue, while questioning its authority of SAFA as the administrative body in the country.

“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,” an excerpt from the statement read.

The union declared SAFA has ‘no interest of football at heart’ after a copy of the letter sent to the federation went unacknowledged.

“They never had the decency to acknowledge our letter and yet we are expected to regard them as a football authority in this country. We hope they will come to their senses and investigate this matter with the view to provide a solution.

“We will never shy away from addressing or dealing with matters that seek to erode the gains we have fought so hard for as workers.

“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,” the statement read.

They also called for the dismissal of Masondo saying it was the only befitting counteractive measure they expected from Golden Arrows boss Madlala.

“As an organization we were not shocked when these allegations broke out because we have always had difficulties of being accorded the right to meet with Golden Arrows players at their workplace.

“Players are denied their democratic right to belong to any Trade Union of their choice the conduct of clubs such as what we are subjected to at Golden Arrows FC when it comes to meeting the players gives credence to the allegations made by the player (Miheso) which were later confirmed to be true.”