CONSTITUTION
1
NAME
The name of the Association shall be “Camps Bay
& Clifton Ratepayers Association”.
2
POSTAL ADDRESS
The postal address of the Association shall for
statutory purposes be the residence of the Secretary from time to time or at
any other place that the Management Committee may designate. For ordinary correspondence,
the address shall be as appears on the letterhead of the Association.
3
LEGAL IDENTITY & PERSONA
3.1 The Association is an “universitas
personarum”, an independent legal persona or entity, distinct from the
individuals who compose it, having capacity of acquiring rights of property, of
incurring obligations and of suing or being sued in its own name and having
perpetual succession.
3.2 Neither members nor the Management
Committee nor any sub-committee of the Association shall be answerable for the
debts, engagements, liabilities or obligations of the Association.
4
OBJECTIVES
4.1 The objectives of the Association shall be:
4.1.1 to observe the Constitution of South Africa
at all times;
4.1.2 to promote, enforce and safeguard the
interests and rights of the ratepayers and/or residents of the membership area
as defined in Clause 5.1;
4.1.3 to conserve the environment, beauty,
character and heritage of the membership area;
4.1.4 to foster interaction among ratepayers
and residents through membership of the Association, and to increase
understanding of civic issues and develop a sense of civic pride;
4.1.5 to interact with, and to serve as a means
of communication to, all levels of government;
4.1.6 to keep a watching brief over Municipal
policies and affairs, to evaluate them according to the highest principles of
good local government and to influence the City Council of Cape Town to adopt
policies, frame regulations and make decisions acceptable to members;
4.1.7 to promote and facilitate interaction
with other organisations in the Greater Cape Town area having similar
objectives;
4.1.8 to give effect to these objectives in
implementing the wishes of its members.
4.2 The Association shall not be aligned to any
political party or other structure, and its elected or co-opted management
shall avoid becoming embroiled in party political disputes.
5
MEMBERSHIP
5.1 Membership of the Association shall be open
to all registered property owners and/or residents over the age of eighteen
years in the membership area, defined as the area draining generally westwards
to the Atlantic Ocean between the southern boundary of Bantry Point and the
northern boundary of Llandudno.
5.2 A registered property owner is defined as
the registered ratepayer or his/her nominee duly authorised in writing.
5.3 A resident is defined as any person
domiciled or ordinarily resident within the membership area.
5.4 The list of members shall not be divulged
to anyone who is not a member of the Management Committee unless so authorised
by the Management Committee.
5.5 A member of the Association who has
rendered outstanding service to the local community may be granted honorary
life membership by resolution of a General Meeting. Particulars in support of
such a proposal shall be included in the notice convening the meeting.
6
MANAGEMENT
6.1 The affairs of the Association shall be
managed by a Management Committee (Manco) consisting of not less than eight and
not more than sixteen members, as determined at the relevant Annual General
Meeting (AGM), and who shall be elected at the AGM. Any paid-up member of the
Association may make him/herself available for election.
6.2 In the event of its transpiring that the
Management Committee consists for a period of time of less than 8 members, the
actions of the Management Committee shall nevertheless be lawful subject to
further members being co-opted or appointed within a period of 90 days from the
date upon which the number of the Management Committee members fell below 8.
6.3 Members of Manco shall be elected for a
period of two years, subject to the requirement that at least 40% of the
membership shall be elected each year. Any serving Committee member shall be
eligible for re-election, and does not require re-nomination, providing that
willingness to stand for re-election is confirmed in writing.
6.4 Manco shall immediately after the annual
election elect from its members a Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson, who shall
be ipso facto Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson of the Association. The positions
of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall not be held for longer than three (3)
years in any continuous period.
6.5 Subsequent to an election, ManCo may nominate
and at a subsequent meeting co-opt persons to fill any vacancy arising through
resignation or other cause.
7
SECRETARY AND TREASURER
7.1 Manco shall appoint a Secretary and a
Treasurer, which positions may be combined, to hold office until the Manco
meeting following the next AGM.
7.2 Manco shall decide the honoraria, if any,
of the Secretary and Treasurer.
7.3 Neither the Secretary nor the Treasurer
will have voting power unless he/she is also appointed or elected a member of
Manco.
8
POWERS OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
8.1 Manco may perform such acts as are
necessary to accomplish the objectives expressed or implied in Clause 4 and
which may be legally accomplished by an universitas personarum. Without in any
way limiting the generality of the foregoing, such powers shall include but not
be limited to the following:
8.1.1 the operation of banking accounts with
all powers required by such operations;
8.1.2 the investment and re-investment of
monies of the Association not immediately required, in such a manner as may
from time to time be determined by Manco;
8.1.3 the making of, entering into and carrying
out of contracts or agreements for any of the purposes of the Association;
8.1.4 the employment and payment of agents,
servants and any other parties;
8.1.5 the right to sue and to defend actions in
the name of the Association and to appoint legal representatives for this
purpose;
8.1.6 the levying of a subscription payable by
members as provided in Clause 13.1 hereof;
8.1.7 the appointment of any sub-committee with
members drawn from Manco and other persons, under the chairmanship of a Manco
member, and granting such powers to it as may be considered necessary.
8.2 The Association is pledged to be
non-political and non-commercial, thus any member of ManCo, having any
financial, political or business interest in any matter under discussion, must
declare such interest and recuse him/herself from such discussions by Manco and
any vote thereon.
8.3 No person holding political office shall be
eligible to act on Manco but may attend meetings in an advisory capacity.
8.4 No member of Manco or any sub-committee
shall be entitled to use his/her position on such committees to promote his/her
financial and/or business interests, or to use for such purposes confidential
information obtained through his/her position.
8.5 No member of Manco or sub committee or
office bearer of the Association shall have any personal right over any asset
of the Association.
9
CONDUCT OF MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETINGS
9.1 Manco shall meet regularly 10 times per
annum.
9.2 The quorum for a Manco meeting shall be 60%
of its members, present personally or by proxy.
9.3 ManCo may, at its discretion, enlist from
time to time supernumeraries for their expertise in certain matters, who shall
not however have voting power.
9.4 Special Meetings may be called by the
Chairperson or, in absentia, the Vice-Chairperson, and shall be called if so
requested by six members of Manco.
9.5 Any member of Manco who fails to attend
three consecutive meetings without justifiable leave of absence shall forfeit
his/her office.
9.6 Resolutions shall, where necessary, be
carried by a simple majority of members of Manco present at a Committee
Meeting.
9.7 Town planning matters and other topics that
require regular consideration may be dealt with in the first instance by
portfolio sub-committees appointed by Manco in terms of Clause 8.1.7.
9.8 Minutes of Manco meetings shall be recorded
and kept safely for consultation by members.
10
TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP OF MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
10.1 Manco may terminate the membership of any
person who is no longer qualified to be a member or whose subscription is more
than three calendar months in arrears. Manco may on good cause or breach of the
Constitution by a member terminate his or her membership provided that such
member may, within ten days of this action, note an appeal against such
decision, which shall be considered at the next General Meeting of Association
members or at a Special General Meeting convened for this purpose.
10.2 A Manco member shall cease to hold office
if:
10.2.1 by notice in writing to Manco he/she
resigns his/her office;
10.2.2 he/she becomes of unsound mind;
10.2.3 he/she surrenders his/her estate as
insolvent or his/her estate is sequestrated;
10.2.4 he/she is convicted of any criminal
offence which involves dishonesty;
10.2.5 by resolution of a General Meeting of
the Association he/she is removed from his/her office.
11
GENERAL MEETINGS
11.1 The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of
members of the Association shall be held once per annum at a place, date and
time fixed by Manco. At least one other General Meetings shall be held each
year.
11.2 The balance sheet and revenue and
expenditure statement for the previous calendar year, shall be submitted to the
AGM for ratification.
11.3 Fourteen (14) calendar days’ notice shall
be given to members for all General Meetings.
11.4 A quorum for all General Meetings shall be
40 members. If there is no quorum the meeting shall be adjourned to a time and
place which Manco shall determine.
11.5 Special General Meetings may be called by
Manco, and shall be called when requested in writing by not less than twenty
members of the Association. The notice calling such a meeting shall be issued
within 7 days of the request and shall set out in full the names of the members
calling for the meeting and the business to be transacted. Only such business
may be transacted at the meeting.
11.6 Voting at all General Meetings may be held
by either a show of hands or by the secret completion of bona fide voting
papers, should this be ordered by the Chairperson or requested by ten or more
members present. Save for motions dealing with amendments to the constitution
or termination of the Association, a simple majority vote shall prevail.
Nevertheless, the Chairman shall endeavour to arrange that resolutions are
worded in a way that will achieve broad consensus.
11.7 When voting for the election of members of
Manco each member in good standing may vote for any number of candidates up to
a maximum of sixteen.
11.8 Nominations in writing for candidates for
election to Manco, with the names of proposer and seconder and acceptance of
nomination by the candidate, must be received by the Association not less than
7 days before the AGM. Notice of the closing date for nomination of candidates
for election to Manco must be sent to members not later than fourteen days
before the AGM.
11.9 Minutes of all meetings shall be recorded
and kept safely, and be available for members to consult.
12
MEMBERS VOTING RIGHTS
12.1 Only members of the Association who have
paid their annual subscriptions for the current financial year at least 4 weeks
previously shall be entitled to vote at any General Meeting of the Association.
12.2 A member of the Association shall be
entitled to appoint a proxy to speak and vote on his/ her behalf at General
Meetings. A proxy appointment must be in writing, signed by the member and
delivered to the Secretary not less than twenty four (24) hours prior to the
scheduled meeting. The proxy need not be a member of the Association.
13
FINANCE
13.1 The Association, through Manco, shall be
empowered to raise funds from members by way of subscriptions and/or other
methods so approved in order to conduct the affairs of the Association on a
competent and sound financial basis.
13.2 All funds shall be deposited to the credit
of the Association with a registered deposit receiving institution.
13.3 Monies may be withdrawn from the accounts
of the Association only on written instruction signed by the Chairman or the
Vice-Chairman plus one other person so authorised by Manco.
13.4 At the end of each financial year
financial records prepared by the Treasurer shall be submitted for scrutiny to
a Registered Accountant, who shall prepare the annual financial statement in
the Standard Accounting form. The statement shall be approved by Manco before
submission to the Annual General Meeting for ratification.
14
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
14.1 Any alterations, additions, or amendments
to this Constitution must be passed by a two-thirds majority vote of those
present at a General Meeting of the Association.
14.2 Notice of any proposed alteration,
addition, or amendment must be given in writing to members twenty one days
prior to the AGM
15
TERMINATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
15.1 The Association shall be wound up upon the
passing of a vote conducted in secret by the casting of written voting papers
to that effect of not less than two-thirds of the paid-up members of the
Association at or subsequent to a Special General Meeting called to decide
specifically on the dissolution of the Association.
15.2 In the event of such a dissolution, all
funds and property belonging to the Association, or held in trust on its
behalf, shall after paying of any debts, forthwith be transferred by authority
of the Special General Meeting to a non-profit organisation with similar
objectives to the Assocation, an Association or amenity catering for the
benefit of the Ratepayers and/or Residents of the membership area.
16
AUTHORITY IN CASES OF URGENCY
16.1 Should a matter arise requiring the
immediate action by Manco and there is insufficient time available to call a
meeting of Manco, the Chairperson shall, after consulting at least three other
members of Manco, take such action as may be determined upon by him or her. The
Chairperson shall report thereupon at the next meeting of Manco to seek
endorsement of his/her action. The Chairperson shall be recused from the vote
of endorsement by the members of Manco.
16.2 The Chairperson may appoint the
Vice-chairperson to undertake this function if he/she is unable to do so.
17
PUBLIC STATEMENTS
Public statements may be made only by the
Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson and by a member of Manco who has been so
authorised.
18
CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence issued on behalf of the
Association shall be on the Association's letterhead and shall be signed by the
Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson or a member of Manco who has been authorised
to do so. Correspondence shall contain no reference to personal interests.
In the case of matters that have been dealt
with by the Town Planning Sub-Committee of Manco, correspondence with the Cape
Town Council shall be signed by the Chairperson of the Sub-Committee as well as
by the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson of Manco.
Letters written in connection with or in
anticipation of litigation shall be signed by the Chairman or the Vice-Chairman
and one other member of the Management Committee.
FINISHED
June 2013
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