Nyathi begs paradigm shift at Highlanders

NODUMO Nyathi, who wants to be the next Highlanders chairperson, has said if voted into office, he will bring a whole new dimension into how the club ought to be led.

The elections, which will also usher in a new executive secretary and committee member, will be held on February 4, a week after the annual general meeting where the candidates for the three posts will be introduced to the members.

Incumbent Johnfat Sibanda is seeking to retain his post with former club chairman businessman Kenneth Mhlophe, former South African supporters chairman Nyathi and businessman Eddison Dube being some of the candidates for the post.

The main question that has been posed to Nyathi is how he will be able to handle club affairs when he is based outside the country.

“We need a serious mindset shift as a people. The executive committee of 2024 and the executive committee of 2002 for example have completely different roles, back then they were real executive because they did actual work day and day out to make sure that our team functions, today we have a chief executive officer, finance officer, marketing and communications officer, security officer, administration personnel and on top one or two interns who do fulltime secretariat work for the team, we need Leadership to oversee and make sure that Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are first set then adhered to, make sure there is a price for failure to adhere to set KPIs, we need leadership that understands that it cannot be business as usual. We need leadership that understands the importance of technology, innovation among other important factors,” said Nyathi.

Highlanders has had an administrative secretary and a finance officer assisted by an office orderly since the 1980s and most of the posts have been added on in the last five years in line with Club Licencing.

Qquestioned on how his base can affect his suitability to hold the position, he said a chairman is not a fulltime worker.

“To have owners who ask questions about location for an oversight role of being a chairman just goes to show the real need for a reset at our club. People must do their work, everyone must do his work and together we lift our club. As the chairman if given that honour I will not have members make me jump for a role that must be done by our employees who are paid every month, those employed will jump before I am made to jump, it’s simple and straightforward,” said Nyathi whose work is said to take him between South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

He said the duties of a chairman can be carried out from anywhere.

“The secretariat will and must do their job, I have oversight and I don’t need to be at the office to know every employee’s plan for the day and I don’t need to be at the office to know if the work planned for the day was done. I will do that in the office, I will do that while ngiseDiana’s Pools eMzingwane and I will do that while in South Africa or anywhere,” said Nyathi.

Nyathi, among a host of things he wants to archive at Bosso dreams of winning the championship.

“At the end of my tenure l wish to be assessed on a vibrant junior policy, transparent administration-debt free, free of corruption, communication that counters factions. In the area of Artificial Intelligence l aim to harness and keep abreast of technological innovations to enhance team’s optimal functioning. I want to see the club win a championship and compete in the African Champions League.

“I wish to extend the Highlanders brand locally and abroad through recruiting in rural areas and following up on Bosso sons abroad. The dream is also to establish chapters abroad, kick start a big infrastructural project perhaps under the name Ndumiso Gumede Project that is acquiring land for a stadium and creation of a school of excellence and source other material such as buses abroad,” he said. – @innocentskizoe