Chronicle Editor
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
TITAN Law wanted to pour in US$1 million towards refurbishment of Hartsfield Rugby grounds in 2018, but was turned down by the Bulawayo Metropolitan Rugby Football Board (BMRFB).
BMRFB said accepting the offer would have meant selling its birth right. It has also since emerged that the law firm only wanted naming rights and had proposed that it be renamed Titan Park.
The law firm said it had no financial and managerial interest in the running of Hartsfield (Pvt) Ltd, a company that would have been formed to run the affairs of the facility had the deal sailed through.
A highly placed source told Chronicle Sport on Sunday that the legal firm was ready to pour US$1 million into the project, which included building a hotel to accommodate visiting international teams.
“How do you honestly turn down an investor who had with US$1 million dollars and you come out and tell the public that it was all because you couldn’t sell your birth right for a few pieces of silver and at the same time say you could not raise US$9 900 to redo the drainage system; it’s an unfortunate situation,” said the source.
Last week BMRFB chairman Craig Change said the deal fell through because they were protecting what he said was their birth right. He also revealed that they were financially constrained to maintain the facility to expected levels.
Titan Law’s proposal would have seen a company formed with its shareholders being Zimbabwe Rugby Union, BMRFB and The Sables Trust.
“Other than funding, the reported refurbishments in return for naming rights, Titan Law would have no other financial or management interest in Hartsfield (Pvt) Ltd.”
The model is similar to the one put in place by the late Louis Luyt for Transvaal Lions in South Africa, which saw Ellis Park (Pvt) Ltd being formed to refurbish the ground.
“The model we had adopted was similar to that the late Dr Louis Luyt put in place for Transvaal (Lions) when Ellis Park (Pty) Ltd was formed to refurbish the ground and make it the home of the Transvaal rugby side. Under the Titan proposal, Hartsfield (Pvt) Ltd was to replace MRFB as the lessee,” said Titan Law.
According to documents in possession of Chronicle Sport, the initial 50-year lease agreement between Bulawayo City council and MRFB was entered into on September 30, 1937, although the commencement date was July 1, 1937, and terminating on June 30, 1987.
A notarial addendum to lease was reached on January 21, 1961, which saw BCC and MRFB agreeing to extend the lease by a further 49 years to make it 99 years. This means the lease will expire on June 30, 2036. Titan Law has condemned the ‘birth right’ pronouncement by Change.
“The ground is no one’s ‘birth right’. The moment people start to personalise a public asset as their ‘birth right’ is the moment you know that they have absolutely no excuse for the deplorable state the ground finds itself in.
That kind of thinking is primitive,” said the law firm owned by Gerald Mlotshwa, the Sports and Recreation Commission board chairman.
In 2018, Mlotshwa, a known rugby enthusiast, had not been appointed to the SRC board. His board was announced by the then acting Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Kazembe Kazembe on May 30, 2019.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from Change from Friday afternoon were in vain.
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