High court orders readmission of suspended Mbombela Golf Club member

After eight years, the high court ordered Mbombela Golf Club to readmit Gerhardus Jacobus Ackerman, better known as Jaco, back in.

According to the court documents, Ackerman was suspended as a member from the Mbombela Golf Club in 2016.

He had served as captain from 2013 to 2015, and has been a homeowner on Matumi Estate for the past 25 years. Following his suspension, he was forbidden to visit the club or to even attend any meeting with regards to the Matumi Homeowners Association.

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Last year, he reapplied for membership, but his application was rejected by the club’s CEO, Darren Plumb. Ackerman took the club to court to have the rejection of his new application set aside.

During the high court hearing, testimony was presented to indicate that Ackerman had previously served as a captain.

In 2016, during a club meeting, a member (whose name is known to Lowvelder) allegedly made derogatory remarks towards Ackerman’s wife.

Aggrieved by these remarks, Ackerman retaliated with derogatory remarks. He was subsequently found guilty at a disciplinary hearing and banned from the club.

In his ruling, Judge Sheila Msibi found that Plumb’s rejection letter in which he labelled Ackerman as the “life-banned golfer Jaco Ackerman” was procedurally unfair.

He further found that “the stance taken against Ackerman suggests bias on the side of Mr Plumb. If there was no bias, he would have allowed the committee to make a decision.”

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Msibi said Plumb’s reference to Ackerman as the “life-banned Jaco Ackerman” indicates a preconceived notion that Plumb would not allow Ackerman to be readmitted.

Msibi set aside the decision. He also slapped the club with a cost order for the application.

When approached for comment on the matter, Plumb said the club had none.