Drama at Durban Country Club
THE prestigious Durban Country Club (DCC) has been dragged to court by a service provider for allegedly breaching a long-standing contractual agreement, which is alleged to have resulted in a dramatic fallout between both parties and some of the workers in the organisation.
Documents obtained by the Daily News reveal that some of the senior white-collar executives at the DCC are alleged to be financially benefiting from the unauthorised sale of the club’s old furniture items, while using its majority blue-collar employees as scapegoats to cover up for the alleged theft.
The Durban Country Club is ranked as one of the top 100 golf courses in the world and celebrated its centenary in 2022.
From the documents, the Daily News has learnt that on June 28 this year, the club allegedly gave two days’ notice before terminating a security contract it had with Ensure Security. The company had been providing security and protection services to the club for seven years.
Allegations are that, as soon as the contract was terminated, lawyers for Ensure wrote to the DCC challenging the termination of the contract, and argued that the written terms of the contract between Ensure and the DCC were not followed.
“The purported termination of its services is unlawful as it is in violation of the terms and conditions of the contract. Our client accepts that the termination is an unlawful repudiation of the contract and effective July 1 will no longer provide any security services to you. Our client requires payment of three months of the contract price in accordance with clauses 23 to 25 of the contract terms. To avoid any misunderstanding, this is in addition to the current and nearer amount to which you are indebted to our client,” read the letter from Ensure’s attorneys.
The letter revealed that at the time, Ensure lawyers had given the DCC seven days to effect the payment in order to avoid being dragged to court. The DCC, however, did not make the payment.
Approached for comment, Ensure boss Kyle Connolly said that he could not comment on the matter as it was now the subject of a court process.
A letter seen by the Daily News revealed that in June, at least seven African employees at the DCC were fired after being accused of theft and having attempted to steal aluminium off-cuts from the premises where renovations of the building, including the Belvedere Room, were undertaken.
One of the fired employees, who has not been named, told the Daily News that Ensure Security was “fired” for “failing to notice” the alleged theft of scrap, and claimed that some of the senior managers at the DCC were helping themselves to old furniture including aluminium off-cuts, air conditioners and other scrap.
He also claimed that they were selling some of the furniture and keeping the money for themselves. The employee requested the newspaper to keep his identity hidden for fear of reprisal.
“On Monday, 20th of June at about 14:00 an issue arose whereby a contractor had arrived at the club to remove scrap metal from work that they had been performing at the Belvedere Room. A security manager from Ensure Security had informed a manager from the country club to phone me and ask me to attend the scene of this incident.
“At first the manager of DCC said that all of this scrap belonged to the country club and was for ‘my guys’ but he was then asked by the contractor's driver to phone his boss, which he did in my presence. He then changed his mind and explained to me and the security manager that the ‘aluminium’ off-cuts were to be taken by the contractors and the other scrap which was from air conditioning that had been removed belonged to the club. Despite this understanding being reached, the contractor left without taking his scrap.
“As this scrap was stored in a place and in a manner that was hazardous, we were requested to remove it from that location and store it at the maintenance workshop. Later that day the manager brought me a gate pass for the removal of the scrap and informed me to take the scrap to a scrap yard and sell it when I got the chance and to bring the receipt and the money to him. The gate pass had been indicated as a ‘gift’, which was not the case,” it was alleged in a letter from the fired employee.
The fired employee indicated that after selling the scrap on June 21, he gave the receipt and money to the DCC manager who then left with the money. However, on June 22, the Ensure Security manager asked him about the aluminum scrap as it was apparently not supposed to be sold. He stated that he and his other colleagues were allegedly sent packing by the DCC manager after they were accused of stealing.
“After having been served the letters, which included a date and time to attend a disciplinary inquiry, on the following Monday, 27th June at 14:00, we were told to leave the premises… On that day we all came to the club, and we were accompanied by our employee representative. We had had no opportunity to consult with him on this matter prior to our hearing. During this inquiry, we were dealt with as one collective. We were not allowed to give our side of events, nor were we allowed to cross-examine any witness,” he claimed.
Despite several attempts to solicit a response from the club's Chairman of the Board of Governors Errol Stewart, he failed to reply to written questions from the Daily News.
Meanwhile, the Board of Governors is expected to hold its annual general meeting where among other things, a proposal of a R24 million investment into the golf course to upgrade greens, bunkers, and irrigation, as well as to improve drainage to ensure better protection against flooding, is on the cards.
On August 2, the board sent a letter to club members requesting permission to withdraw R12m from the Beachwood Fund. The remaining balance of R12m will apparently be donated by club member Nick Jonsson, who is said to be demanding two of the five board member seats, which has raised eyebrows among some of the club's insiders.
Further correspondence to club members reads: “In exchange, Nick has requested two of five board member seats as the vehicle by which to assist in taking the club to the level demanded by the club and its members for sustainability and prosperity.
“The club is on a financial knife-edge and the consequences of not supporting this proposal are dire.”