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Petros Kausiyo, Harare Bureau
THE Sport and Recreation Commission have intervened in the dispute that has arisen between the Zimbabwe Rugby Union and the fired pair of chief executive Blessing Chiutare and director of rugby Nsikelelo “Sykes’’ Sibanda with a bid to find an amicable solution on the row.

Sports Commission acting director-general Joseph Muchechetere revealed yesterday that he had met with ZRU president Aaron Jani and advised him to ensure that the union do not fall foul of the country’s labour laws through their actions.

Chiutare and Sibanda who were sent packing by the ZRU on January 9, have been challenging their dismissals and have also approached the Labour Court over the dispute.

The duo who had been engaged by the axed executive of Nyararai Sibanda were the major casualties of the administrative reforms that are being undertaken by Jani leadership.

Jani’s executive had first wielded the axe on Media and marketing manager Raymond Gonte before descending on Chiutare and Sykes Sibanda.

The ZRU have also since advertised the posts of chief executive and director of rugby along with that of the senior national team coach but Gonte’s post appears to have been frozen out in a restructuring process, at least for now.

However, Chiutare and Sykes Sibanda were not amused with the manner the pair was fired and believe that the ZRU leadership flouted procedures and insist they should have been confirmed in their positions by securing contracts rather being axed.

This has led to a dispute between the parties with the duo launching a spirited battle for the case while the ZRU management have also maintained that they acted within the best interests of the national game.

The Sports Commission played a huge role in the process that led to the Jani executive assuming office when they intervened in the ZRU affairs and suspended Nyararai Sibanda’s management.

After suspending Nyararai Sibanda, the Sports Commission probed the goings-on at the ZRU and produced a comprehensive report, which had recommendations which were adopted by the union’s membership at a meeting at Prince Edward on November 4.

It is also against the background of their findings and recommendations that the Commission have been closely following the developments at the union, albeit from a distance this time around.

Given that Jani’s executive was duly elected at a properly constituted indaba, the Sports Commission are also aware they would need to give the union a chance to manage their own affairs.

Muchechetere conceded as much and said their advice to Jani was not a directive on the ZRU to rescind their decisions.

“Yes we have been following the developments at the ZRU and we have since advised ZRU to take action within the confines of the laws of this country and particularly to do with the Labour Laws.

“We felt in our advice that their actions were emotional which eventually lacked substantive and procedural fairness in it. At this stage our role is to assist and advise which we have already done to the President Aaron Jani. They may take or not,’’ Muchechetere said.

Jani also confirmed that his executive had been in touch with the Sports Commission over the matter and expressed satisfaction with the level of engagement between the two bodies.

The ZRU boss also said the ZRU had sought legal advice before executing their decisions on Chiutare and Sykes Sibanda.

“I don’t agree with the way they have gone about it in the media. I think it was premature. If they had applied for the jobs and had not got the jobs maybe I could have understood the need to go to the media, but in be that as it may it is their democratic right and there is nothing we can do about.

“It is important to understand too that there were no contracts for the two, no terms of reference and we did not even know how much salary we were supposed to pay each of them.

“We had an atmosphere that was not of their (Chiutare and Sibanda) own doing and that was not of our doing either… it was a legacy issue that we inherited and we had to correct things.

“Up to now I don’t know what qualifications Blessing has so we then said let’s start afresh and it was a difficult situation. I am glad the SRC are involved and they are guiding us on the matter,’’ Jani said.

But Chiutare and Sykes Sibanda who have maintained since Day One of their sacking that they would contest the move, are still forcing and fighting.

The pair have also written to the union and other stakeholders outlining some points they feel the rugby mother body’s board members needed to consider.

“The mail below and attachments tell the full story of what has been happening at the Zimbabwe Rugby Union, I know there a lot of attachments, I urge you to read them to get a full understanding of everything. For avoidance of doubt the SRC has been copied since their inquiry report is part of the attachments. I would also like to draw your attention to the following facts:

•    The Presidium requested for CVs then came up with the adverts, which is constructive dismissal

•    Presidium claimed  that they could not access the mail [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>  in order to complete the earlier process. Strangely enough their current adverts carry the same mail address meaning they had access all along

•    The President said in an EXCO meeting “We want to advertise again in order to give a chance to those who did not apply the first time”

•    Director of Rugby’s achievements over 15 months are detailed on his attached CV, we qualified for the World Cup Sevens

•    Dismissal letters talk of an “employment arrangement” yet salaries were being paid for these positions and the board is aware

•    World Rugby allocated 20 000 pounds in 2016 and 2017 for the Director of Rugby’s salary, he was earning $ 1 000 a month, yet the previous Director was earning $2500 and the one before him was earning $3500, where did the rest of the allocated money go to?

•    The Human resources evaluation as mandated by the Board was not done

•    Board received mail on staff changes which indicated discipline as one of the reasons, there was never any disciplinary hearing or warning letter as is required by labour regulations and our very own constitution

•    We followed the grievance procedure as is stated in our constitution, we wrote to the President who is the chairman of EXCO and his response was dismissal instead of engagement

•    We have proof that the facts we presented when the Presidium first indicated their intention to advertise the posts were no captured in any of the EXCO minutes

•    The current General Manager (Sifiso Made) who is the former Harare Province Chairman first joined the secretariat in an Acting capacity following the resignation of the then General Manager Grant Mitchell. He was made substantive by the then ZRU President Mr John Falkenberg who complied with the Labour Regulations on the 1st of August 2012, he had been acting for over 6 months

•    Director of Rugby was not consulted in coming up with the advert for the Sables Coach, it was done by the Presidium,’’ wrote the pair.