The SA Football Players Union (Safpu) visited the headquarters of top flight club AmaZulu this week amidst revelations that the outfit and its neighbours Richards Bay and Royal AM are proposing to cut the salaries of some players and owe others their earnings.
According to Safpu, Richards Bay this week paid more than R500 000 to their former players after a breach of settlements and agreements between the players and the club.
The club was recently ordered by the PSL disciplinary committee (DC) to pay more than six players who were contracted to the club.
Safpu has also revealed that AmaZulu has engaged in a consultative process with some players to reduce their salaries.
Royal AM, who are enduring a ban to sign new players from Fifa, are said to have also had talks with some of their players regarding salary cuts.
These revelations were divulged by Safpu’s secretary general Nhlanhla Shabalala who was assisting the players to get the clubs to pay up.
About six players, Neil Boshoff, Khetha Shabalala, Harold Majadibodu, Nzuzo Mkhize, Ndiviwe Mdabuka and Michael Boy Gumede had taken Richards Bay to task for non-payment.
Majadibodu is now on the books of University of Pretoria, while Boshoff has joined Cape Town Spurs.
At Royal AM, well-travelled Ruzaigh Gamaldien parted ways with the club after reportedly rejecting a salary cut.
Hugo Nyame wanted to leave the club popularly known as Thwihli Thwahla, after he found himself in a similar situation.
Hard-working midfielder Menzi Masuku who made a name for himself at Orlando Pirates, has followed suit and left Royal AM’s nest in Pietermaritzburg.
Central defender Thato Lingwati also left the club and was quoted in the media saying that he is no longer with the club over matters relating to his contract and payment of his salary.
At AmaZulu, insiders divulged that senior players Ramahlwe Mphahlele, Abbubaker Mobara and Thembela Sikhakhane were also approached to take salary cuts.
But, according to Safpu, they have not received any formal complaint from the Usuthu players because the club is said to have engaged in a fair consultative process with the players.
“We won a case against Richards Bay and this week, the players received their monies after the club had a salary dispute with six players,” Shabalala told Sunday World.
“The money was deducted from the club’s monthly grant and will be paid into our (Safpu) attorney’s trust account and will later be paid to the players.
“We have picked up calls from some of the players. Some players did not agree on those salary cuts while others complained about settlement disagreements with the teams. Some of the players who did not agree with the proposal resulted in terminations of their contracts.
“You must remember that at times, teams cannot afford to keep players that they are no longer able to pay. Teams may lose sponsors or their source of funding and then they propose ways to reduce their salary bill. But players cannot be forced or threatened – termination must be after agreement.”
AmaZulu’s public relations officer Philani Ndlela confirmed that the union visited the club.
“I can confirm that the players union was at the club on Friday and they were there to discuss issues of a petition about sports tax. The issue of players’ salaries was not discussed and the story that the club is cutting salaries of players is false. Players negotiate their contracts individually and they know what was presented before them and they had the opportunity to decline and freedom to negotiate with other teams.
“The club is not in a crisis. Senior players like Ramahlwe had options because their contracts had ended last season. We looked at it from an HR perspective that players who are approaching the last stages of their careers cannot give us the same minutes or mileage on the pitch – and that means they cannot be paid the same salary.
“If they agreed, it means we cannot pay them the same amount of money.
“It’s just that players always find it hard to accept, and that is normal.”
Richards Bay’s spokesperson Xolani Zungu was not available for comment.
