The attorney for Walmer Country Club in Port Elizabeth says the 76-year-old golf club remains open, and that they intend to hold their normal competitions on Wednesday and Saturday this week.
Attorney Francois Roux was reacting to club president Mike Crichton's assertion on Sunday that the club would be closing its doors as from Monday 22 July due to growing financial debt and poor trading conditions.
Crichton told AlgoaFM News that he had put a substantial amount of his own money into keeping the club going but could not continue doing so in the face of a mounting electricity bill and a staff compliment of 12 people who had not been paid in weeks.
He added that years of negotiations around a lucrative land deal and plans for the St Christopher's School to establish a campus at Walmer Country Club had also failed to materialize.
Roux said, however, that the Club President did not have the authority to close down the club as it was a Section 21 non-profit company which was essentially owned by the 250-odd members.
Roux said he was at the club on Monday talking to creditors with a view to getting through this tough situation, while the staff had indicated they were also prepared to keep going.
He said the mood at the club was positive and that members would meet on Wednesday where notice of a date for a special general meeting, within the next two weeks, would be given.
Walmer Country Club owns the land that both the golf course and clubhouse are built on and Roux said its conservative value is around R50 million.
