Financially struggling railway company TransNamib has evicted the Trustco United Bowling Club from its bowling turf for failing to honour its rental commitments.
TransNamib has not received a single cent from the property it has rented out for 80 years now, it has surfaced.
This comes after Trustco United Bowling Club, formerly known as the TransNamib Bowling Club, claimed last month they were unfairly kicked out from the property without a concrete reason.
The facility also houses the club’s office.
Shedding light on the development, TransNamib spokesperson Abigail Raubenheimer refuted the claims, stating that since their occupation began, the club has not paid for utilities.
As a consequence, the non-payment has only added to TransNamib’s financial woes.
In 2018, the club was billed for utilities, but it did not comply.
Again, in 2019, TransNamib approached the club to establish rental conditions, which the club refused, even questioning TransNamib’s ownership in court documents.
“This ongoing non-compliance indicated a lack of a viable partnership, with TransNamib unfairly subsidising the club’s activities. TransNamib has always maintained ownership of the property in question. The decision to reclaim occupation of the property stemmed from the bowling club’s failure to comply with the requirements set out to rent properties from TransNamib,” Raubenheimer said.
She continued: “Renting TransNamib’s property is straightforward and entails fulfilling the following simple conditions: enter into an agreement with TransNamib, pay rental fees and cover utility costs.
This situation clearly indicates that there was no viable partnership, with TransNamib bearing undue financial burden [by] subsidising club activities to our company’s disadvantage”.
Speaking to this publication, the chairman of Trustco United Bowling Club, Christo Steenkamp stated that they attempted to reach an agreement with the railway company.
They hit a railway signalling block, as they were not given an opportunity to engage in discussions, he said.
The members also claim they sought the intervention of the Namibia Sports Commission to reach a common ground, but no opportunity was provided.
They claim that a significant amount of history has been disregarded, as the club has achieved numerous accolades in the Namibian bowling scene.
Last year, the club won the Windhoek Bowling League, and it has a huge number of players representing Namibia at various international competitions.
“I don’t think this is fair. There is no specific reason as to why we should vacate the venue. There is a private school that practices on the grounds with us. These kids are going to be displaced,” said Steenkamp.
New dawn
Last month, TransNamib appointed seasoned executive Desmond van Jaarsveld as their new CEO.
He joined TransNamib at a time when the entity’s financial losses are said to be well over N$15 million per month.
Reports in 2022 indicated the company was operating at a monthly loss of more than N$10 million.
The entity largely depends on government subsidies to fund its day-to-day operations, a situation said to be “not a sustainable long-term solution”.
In the face of challenges, TransNamib has been confident to surmount them.
According to the rail entity, during the 2019/2020 financial year, TransNamib achieved historic revenue growth, with a 10.5% increase in freight revenue.
The new development also comes at a time when TransNamib is yet to publicise how much it made from a 2022 auction.
At the time, TransNamib was auctioning off non-core properties in nine towns across the country from its property portfolio, valued at N$2.4 billion.
To date, the result of this auction has remained a mystery.