Cape Town - The breakdown in communication has become a major issue at Royal AM and it has led seasoned administrator Sinky Mnisi to go rogue.
Mnisi, a former Highlands Park FC shareholder, is no stranger to controversy and two years ago he took legal action after disputing the sale of the club to Tim Sukazi. Nothing came of Mnisi's efforts to prove that the sale could not go ahead without his approval.
This time Mnisi, the CEO of Royal AM, has plunged headlong into a nightmare confrontation with club owner Shauwn 'MaMkhize' Mkhize, who after a year in topflight football, has established herself as one of football's most powerful personalities. In the past year, Mkhize has taken the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the National Soccer League to court.
She has also, at a great expense, taken her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. This is the world's highest sports court.
If that was not enough, she also called for the acting PSL CEO Mato Madlala to be jailed while she was fighting for her club Royal AM to be awarded automatic promotion to the Premiership.
She said at the time (last July): “So, the PSL acted unlawfully and in contempt of court. If they are found guilty, their accounting authority, which is the CEO, must be imprisoned.”
This is the person that Mnisi has picked a fight with. Although Mkhize suffered a string of lost cases last year she is unlikely to allow Mnisi or anyone else to ride roughshod over her.
Recently, the media immediately smelt a rat when a notice from the Durban-based club called a press conference in Johannesburg. It is rather unusual for a club to host a press conference outside their province.
Mnisi pointed out in the notice that he had called a meeting "in his personal capacity" and gave no indication of what it will be about.
As it turned out a highly irate Mnisi climbed in with the proverbial boots and all into Mkhize with a host of allegations.
Mnisi said he felt unprotected because MaMkhize has not bothered to tell the media that he was not suspended after speculation to that effect had done the rounds.
IOL Sport contacted MaMkhize. She called for our questions in writing and promised to return with comments. Responding to questions she said the matter would not be discussed in the media and it will be dealt with internally.
A few days ago, MaMkhize did some nifty footwork in an interview with radio personality Robert Marawa. On the show, she responded to comments reported in the media by saying: "Media can say what they want to say."
It would be a tragedy if Royal lost Mnisi because while he was at the helm the club reached great heights after it was plunged into chaos at the start of the season. They started out without the benefit of a pre-season.
It's time for Mnisi back off and resolve his differences with the club or else he'll end up in the football wilderness.
@Herman_Gibbs