Suspended ZRU takes SRC to court

Allan Foti, Sunday News Correspondent
THE suspended Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) executive led by Nyararai Sibanda and his deputy Noddy Kanyangarara has taken the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) to Administrative Court to appeal the decision.

According to papers filed by the appellants’ lawyers, Sengwe Law Chambers which were availed to this publication, the appeal to the Administrative Court is based on Section 32 (1) of the SRC Act that allows “any person who is aggrieved by a decision of the Board or the Commission in terms of this Act may appeal against the decision to the Administrative Court.”

The executive was suspended for a number of reasons, among them alleged in-fighting among the executive committee members, poor results by national teams as well as the ZRU’s failure to adhere to provisions of the SRC Act (Chapter 25:15) of 1991 and revised in 1996 and regulations (1995) by willfully not seeking the clearance of the Zimbabwe women’s rugby team which toured Francistown, Botswana on 27 May this year.

Speaking to Sunday News Sport from his base in Harare, Kanyangarara said he and his colleagues lodged the appeal on September 8 and the SRC was served with the notice by the Administrative Court on September 11 and given 30 days to respond.

“We decided to appeal our suspension because we thought it was unjustified and we filed our papers on September 8 while the SRC was served with the papers on September 11,” Kanyangara said.

The suspended ZRU vice-president was quick to point out that the appeal to the Administrative Court was not meant to be confrontational, but was premised on the SRC’s own statutes regards appeals to its decisions.

The Sibanda-led executive was suspended by the SRC last month and replaced with an interim executive led by former Sables wing, Russell Karimazondo appointed to run the affairs of the Union and would be accountable to the commission.

SRC acting director-general, Joseph Muchechetere on Friday confirmed that they had been served with the appeal papers. He said this was the correct procedure for any aggrieved sports body or persons to seek reprieve.

“We have been served with the appeal papers but apart from confirming this, I cannot comment any further as it is now before the courts. We will leave the matter for the courts to deal with,” Muchechetere confirmed. -@AllanFoti