Two days after Kaizer Chiefs unveiled eight new players in a major overhaul of their squad ahead of the upcoming season, one of the victims of the changes at Naturena is now taking the club to court.
Siboniso Gaxas ongoing contractual dispute with the Glamour Boys is now in the hands of his legal team, his agent Glynn Binkin said yesterday. Chiefs announced at the beginning of the month that the defender would not be staying on as he had not been offered a new deal, a statement which contradicted their October 21 Twitter post that Gaxa had signed a contract extension for two more years.
Asked whether that announcement, which also included news that striker Bernard Parker had committed his future with Amakhosi for three years, was premature, Chiefs football manager Bobby Motaung said he was still waiting for Gaxa to prove he had indeed been offered the new deal.
“I don’t really want to talk about this because we have received a letter, which I think is from the player’s lawyers, informing us that the player is going to take the matter to the DRC (dispute resolution chamber),” Motaung explained. “I never signed a contract with Gaxa, which is why I want him to come to us and prove it. There is no contract, and I am not aware of an announcement that the player signed a new contract because I never made the announcement. If it was made on social media, I know nothing about that. I wasn’t there.”
Binkin, who has been Gaxa’s business manager for several years now, told The Star it was Motaung who instructed the player to sign the paperwork last year. “Bobby knows exactly what the player signed because he phoned him to tell him it was ready. And I don’t think the player will be mistaken about what it is that he put his signature on because he has been playing football and signing contracts for more than 15 years,” he said. “He knows what a contract looks like. The truth will come out.”
Binkin revealed that he was not present when Gaxa, 32, inked what he is certain was a new Chiefs deal. But neither was Motaung, he added. “I was probably abroad, but there was no reason to believe that he wasn’t signing a legit contract. Bobby wasn’t there either. He phoned the player to say he must go sign, so he knows exactly what the player was signing.”
Chiefs have moved swiftly to replace right-back Gaxa with 26-year-old Ramahlwe Mphahlele, the Mamelodi Sundowns skipper who penned a three-year contract and was unveiled along with seven other new players in Naturena on Monday. It appears Gaxa would still consider rejoining Chiefs should the DRC ruling go in his favour in the coming weeks.
“He has a contract,” was Binkin’s response when asked whether his client would be willing to kiss and make up with Motaung and Amakhosi coach Steve Komphela, who sidelined the player halfway through the previous season. Gaxa made just two Premier League appearances between February and May as Chiefs finished the campaign in fifth place to surrender the championship to Sundowns. - The Star
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