Richards Bay Chairman Jomo Biyela has refuted contractual claims made by former head coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi, also adding that he was never fired from his role.
Despite signing a new contract a few weeks back, Vilakazi opted to part ways with the Natal Rich Boyz after an alleged fallout with management during pre-season.
Biyela, speaking to Andile Ncube on Metro FM’s Sports Night Amplified, clarified what transpired that led to Vilakazi leaving the club on his accord.
“We never fired him [Vilakazi],” Biyela said.
“He took a decision to leave the club. Which I think we always cherish that you were part of us when you were trying to survive relegation.
“He also played his role obviously together with the other coaches he was part of the club,” he said.
Biyela expressed his dissatisfaction that Vilakazi laid bare certain contractual issues on radio instead of discussing it internally with him.
“But in terms of the contract, because I want to clarify the issue of the contract,” he affirmed.
“The issue of the contract is a problem because now some of the things that are being said here, maybe like ‘we should have done this, we should have looked at the club’, I think that if we worked together and still talked out, those are the things that should’ve been raised internally.
“Because some of the things I’m hearing it for the first time here on the radio like the issue of getting eight points was not possible and all those things.
“I don’t have a problem with that, but I want to believe if we work together, like I thought we were working together because we were working very well with coach Kanu he knows my doors are always open. He’ll phone me anytime.
“I personally believe that he should’ve raised those things [mandates] internally for us to be able to get solutions on that. I think we have been in football for too long. I’ve managed a lot teams around to understand what he was raising here.
“But I thought that those things should’ve been raised internally. Not for me to hear it on radio.”
In closing, the chairman delved into the confusion around the contract.
“The issue of the contract, let me explain it once and for all. I’m no longer going to talk about this issue now,” he said.
“The issue of the contract was never a contract, it was a proposed contract which then talks about terms. Which talked about bonuses, which talked about salary and all those things.
“We never spoke about the performance and the way people should behave within the club and all those things.
“So, it was not a club contract. Then if the contract that we gave him was a club contract, so which means if he was not happy about the options, he should’ve come back and say please remove options.
“Then the issue of the performance clause, to be honest you’re not asking for too much if you’re asking for eight points out of 15.
“The issue was never about chasing people away but to have performance agreement between the two parties.
“What I can say is that we’ve parted ways with coach Kanu. We don’t know where he’s going. We’re wishing him well,” he added.
