When Rosebank’s Grace Hotel closed its doors last month, so did its lesser-known sister facility, the Lakes Hotel and Conference Centre in Benoni. The Lakes now stands accused of refusing to reimburse a R95 000 deposit paid by a charity for disadvantaged youth.
Zimbabwean group African Sun hotels ceased operating in South Africa at the end of August, citing over-investment in the World Cup, high rentals and the strength of the rand.
The Field Band Foundation, a charity that booked accommodation for 480 youths in June, is now concerned that it may never recover its money.
The foundation seeks to attract disadvantaged youngsters, mainly from the townships, to participate in marching bands and to develop their life skills.
On October 7 and 8 the foundation will hold its national championships at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, where youths from around the country will perform.
“We booked out the Lakes for our members and paid a deposit of nearly R95 000 on June 14,” said the foundation’s deputy director, Brian Gibson.
“When we called the hotel three weeks ago to start making final arrangements, we discovered it had closed.
“I refuse to believe they took the money knowing that they were going out of business because that would be fraud,” he said.
“But we urgently need the money to secure alternative accommodation for youngsters coming to our championships.”
In spite of repeated promises, Gibson said, no refund had been made to date.
He said that on August 18 African Sun’s financial controller, Henry Chikwena, signed an acknowledgement of debt, saying that, “the Lakes Hotel owes Field Band an amount of R94 687. We are still waiting for funds from head office that we expect by Friday next week (August 26) at the latest.”
On August 24 the foundation sent a letter of demand to the hotel group.
However, according to Gibson, Lakes general manager George Manyumwa told the charity that the money was not available and would first have to be retrieved from debtors.
African Sun maintains it is not pulling out of South Africa, as its regional central reservations, sales and marketing offices are in Johannesburg. Questioned about the refund the group’s spokesperson, Farayi Magwende, said that it was premature to accuse the company of failing to repay the money.
“African Sun is committed to paying all its creditors in respect of The Lakes and The Grace and all due processes are being followed to ensure that outstanding obligations will be honoured,” said Magwende.
Gibson hit back angrily: “If I was the chairperson of African Sun I would take the money out of my own pocket rather than suffer the embarrassment of using charity funds to pay operating expenses.
“What more do they expect us to do?
“We’ve been advised that the cost of a court action against a Zimbabwean company would be difficult to justify.”