An NHA colour holder of forty years standing, Johnny Peter, nominee of the Hyper Paint Syndicate, is not exactly enjoying his racing like he used to.
And now with the Annual General Meeting of the racing regulator just days away, the passionate racing man who was nominated ROA Owner of the month in May 2022 has had a request to register a vote of no confidence in the NHA board dismissed out of hand.
In email correspondence between Mr Peter and the NHA, he is informed that in terms of clause 12.2 of the NHA’s Constitution, “No MEMBER shall propose an item for inclusion on the agenda which is not of general interest and importance to the general body of MEMBERS. The Chairman of the NATIONAL BOARD shall have the right to exclude any proposed item from the agenda, should he, after consultation with the BOARD, be of the view that such item is not of interest or importance to the general body of MEMBERS.”
He is further informed that a request for a vote of no confidence to be placed on the NHA’s agenda for the AGM to be held on 17 January 2024 was received from ten members of the NHA, of whom nine have the surname Peter, which the NHA advise they presume are all related to one another.
Mr Peter is advised that, as he should be aware, certain individual Members of the Peter family are currently subject to Inquiries and as such the NHA National Board, having considered the request from the ten members and the fact of the inquiries, was of the view that the agenda item proposed is not of interest or importance to the general body of Members, which they add they trust ‘is obvious to see’.
He is then told that should he or any Member wish to have the Members of the NHA vote on the lack of confidence in the NHA, his attention is referred to clause 13 of the constitution, of which the relevant section of the clause is quoted for ease of reference:
“The NATIONAL BOARD may call a SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING of MEMBERS at any time and place, and it shall call such a meeting upon receipt of a written requisition signed by not less than 100 MEMBERS….”.
He is informed that he is therefore at liberty to exercise his right in terms of Clause 13 of the Constitution should he so wish by complying with its provisions.
Mr Peter told the Sporting Post that he informed the NHA that their reliance on clause 12.2 of the their Constitution to exclude this item is egregiously misplaced and constitutes an overt affront to the democratic principles that underpin our esteemed association.
He writes:
It is patently clear that the decision to exclude the proposed item was neither impartial nor made in good faith, given the familial connection of the majority of the members proposing it.
This action not only smacks of nepotism but also reeks of an autocratic tendency to stifle dissenting voices within the NHA.
Furthermore, your assertion that the item is not of general interest or importance is not only subjective but manifestly arbitrary.
The request for a “Vote of no confidence” inherently addresses governance concerns which, by their very nature, are of paramount interest and importance to the entire body of MEMBERS.
To suggest otherwise is to trivialize the legitimate concerns of the members and to undermine the very fabric of our association’s democratic ethos.
Additionally, your reference to ongoing inquiries against individual members of the Peter family is a red herring, blatantly employed to divert attention from the real issue at hand.
Such matters have no bearing on the validity or relevance of the proposed agenda item and should not be used as a pretext to deny the members their right to have their voices heard.
In light of the above, I demand an immediate reversal of the decision to exclude the “Vote of no confidence” from the AGM agenda.
Failure to do so will compel us to consider all available legal remedies, including but not limited to, seeking an injunction to prevent the holding of the AGM until such time as the members’ rights to propose agenda items of legitimate concern are duly recognized and respected.
The 142nd NHA AGM will be held on Wednesday 17 January 2024 at 11h00 at the regulator’s HO in Johannesburg.
The Sporting Post has requested whether there will be live streaming of the meeting. No answer has been forthcoming.
