ELPA CONSTITUTION

1. NAME

1.1 The Name of the organisation is ENNERDALE LAWLEY POOL ASSOSIATION.
1.2 Its shortened name shall be ELPA

2. ADDRESS

The address of the Organisation is:
13 Alabaster Street, Ext.10, Ennerdale, 1813

3. OPERATIONAL

3.1 AREA OF OPERATION

The organization shall operate in the Ennerdale, Lawley and surrounding Areas.

3.2 AFFILIATION

The organisation shall, in future, be affiliated to: Pool South Africa (PBSA)

3.3 REGISTRATION

The organisation shall be registered in terms of all relevant legislation.

Organisation is a Non-Profit Organisation With registration number (if applicable) N/A

3.4 BODY CORPORATE

The organisation shall:
a. Exist in its own right, separately from its members.
b. Continue to exist even when its membership changes and there are different office bearers.
c. Be able to own property and other possessions.
d. Be able to sue and be sued in its own name.

3.5 INCOME AND PROPERTY

a. The organisation will keep a record of everything it owns.
b. The organisation may not give any of its money or property to its members or office bearers. The only time it can do this is when it pays for work that a member or office bearers has done for the organisation. The payment must be a reasonable amount for the work that has been done.
c. A member of the organisation can only get money back from the organisation for expenses that she or he has reasonably paid for or on behalf of the organisation.
d. Members or office bearers of the organisation do not have rights over things that belong to the organisation or any of the organisation’s assets or property solely by virtue of their being members or office-bearers.

4 OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of the organisation are:
• To strive to promote the game of Eight Ball Pool in Ennerdale, Lawley and surrounding areas.
• To encourage cordial relations among all affiliated clubs.
• To unite members of both sexes from different communities and backgrounds who have a common interest in the game of pool.
• To manage and maintain an efficient Pool League.
• To help players to participate in the South African National Championships, if they wish to do so.

5. OUR VISION

Our Vision is to promote the game to young and old, male and female, by:
• Improving individual games through coaching
• Participating in the annual South African National Competitions (PBSA)
• Encouraging members to attend referee seminars to improve their knowledge of the game

6. GOVERNANCE, MEMBERSHIP, BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

The organizational structure of ELPA shall comprise of the following members:

6.1.1 Chairman
6.1.2 Vice Chairman
6.1.3 Secretary and his/her Assistant
6.1.4 Treasurer 6.1.5 Disciplinary Committee. (Hereafter referred to as DC)
DC members will be decided on by EXCO at the time when such a committee is needed. DC members will be chosen from whichever teams are not involved in the dispute that such a committee should decide on. This excludes EXCO members.
6.1.6 Public Relations Officer
6.1.7 Head Referee – Any one of a minimum of 3 members that attended a referee’s course.

6.2. OFFICE BEARERS

1. Office bearers shall serve for 3 years, thereafter they can stand for re-election for another term.
2. If a person wants to become a member of the organization, he/she must ask the organization’s management. The management has the right to say no.
3. Members must attend the annual general meetings where members exercise their right to determine the policy of the organization.

6.3. CESSATATON OF MEMBERSHIP

A member of the Board of Management shall cease to be a member if that person:
• Fails to attend three consecutive meetings without an apology given and duly recorded, or
• is not able to subscribe to the spirit of the Vision of the Organization.
• Vacancies on the Board may be filled by decision of the Board for the unexpired period of the member’s term of membership, or by election at an annual general meeting.

6.4. VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE.

For a vote of no confidence, a formal letter needs to be presented at least one month before the next representative meeting, with reasonable motivation for the motion of no confidence, before any vote of confidence can be motioned.

6.5 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES AND MECHANISMS FOR GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

6.5.1 The governing body shall provide overall governance of the organization.
6.5.2 The governing body acts on behalf of the Organization in all matters affecting the conduct of its affairs in furtherance of its objectives.

The governing body shall have the following authotity, and be responsible for the following tasks:
a. They shall do whatever is required to secure the financial viability, achievement of the objectives of the Organization and continued existence of the Organization.
b. They shall regulate the administration of the Organization according to acceptable business practices and the requirements of the law.
c. The delegation of such powers as it deems fit to an executive or other committee.
d. No funds shall be distributed to any person (other than in the course of undertaking any public benefit activity).
e. The funds of the organization will be used solely for the objectives for which it was established.
f. No remuneration will be paid to any employee, office bearer, member or other person that is excessive, having regard to what is generally considered reasonable in the sector and in relation to the service rendered.
g. Policy determination
h. Establishing priorities and allocating resources
i. Setting personnel policy

6.4 POWERS OF THE ORGANISATION

a. The governing body may take on the power and authority that it believes it needs to be able to achieve the objectives that are stated in clause 4 of this constitution. Its activities must abide by the law and be consistent with this constitution.
b. The governing body together with management shall have the power and authority to raise funds or to invite and receive contributions.
c. The governing body does, however, have the power to buy, hire or exchange for any property that it needs to achieve its objectives.
d. The governing body together with management have the right to make by-laws for proper management, including procedure for application, approval and termination of membership.

7. MEETINGS AND PROCEDURES OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

a. The Board of Management must hold at least 4 ordinary meetings each year.
b. The chairperson, or two members of the board, can call a special meeting if they want to, but they must let the other board members know the date of the proposed meeting not less than 7 days before it is due to take place. They must also tell the other members of the board which issues will be discussed at the meeting. If, however, one of the matters to be discussed is to appoint a new board of management member, then those calling the meeting must give the other board members not less than 14 days’ notice.
c. The chairperson shall act as the chairperson of the board of management. If the chairperson does not attend a meeting, then members of the board who are present choose which one of them will chair that meeting. This must be done before the meeting starts.
d. More than half of the members (i.e. half the members plus one) need to be at the meeting to make decisions that are allowed to be carried forward, this constitutes a quorum.
e. When necessary, the governing body shall vote on issues. If the votes are equal on an issue, then the chairperson has either a second or deciding vote.
f. If the board of management thinks it is necessary, then it can decide to set up one or more sub-committees. It may decide to do this to get some work done quickly. Or it may want a sub-committee to do an inquiry, for example. There must be at least three people on a sub-committee. The sub-committee must report back to the board of management on its activities regularly.
g. Proper minutes shall be kept of the proceedings of the Board of Management and a record of those persons present at such meetings.
h. The minutes shall be circulated to members before the following meeting. The minutes shall be confirmed as a true record of proceeding, by the next meeting of the governing body and shall thereafter be signed by the chairperson.
i. All members of the organization have to abide by decisions that are taken by the governing body.

8 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

8.1 An annual general meeting of the members shall be held within a period of 12 (twelve) months of the adoption of this constitution, and subsequent annual general meetings shall be held within 3 (three) months after the end of each financial year.

8.2 The business of the annual general meeting shall include inter alia:
a. Agree to the items to be discussed on the agenda.
b. Write down who attends and who sent apologies for non-attendance.
c. Read and confirm the previous meeting’s minutes with matters arising.
d. The presentation and adoption of the chairperson’s report.
e. The adoption of the Annual Financial Statements.
f. Election as required.
g. The appointment of independent auditors.
h. The approval of a budget of income and expenditure for the ensuing year.
i. Other such matters as may be considered appropriate. 8.3 Notice of Annual General Meetings must be given, by the Secretary, not Less than 30 days before the meeting.

9 FINANCIAL MATTERS

a. The Organization shall be conducted on a non-profit basis, with the intent and purpose that its capital and income, whenever derived, shall be applied solely towards the promotion of its objectives, and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred, directly or indirectly, (whether by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise howsoever) by way of profit or distribution to any of the members of the Organization provided that nothing herein contained shall preclude the payment in good faith to a member or any other person for services rendered or out of pocket expenses approved by the governing body.
b. An accounting officer shall be appointed at the annual general meeting. His/her duty is to audit and check on the finances of the organization.
c. The treasurer’s duty is to control and oversee the finances of the organization and to arrange for all funds to be put into a bank account in the name of the organization. The treasurer must keep proper records of all the finances.
d. The business of the Organization shall be conducted through a bank account and two signatures shall be required to operate the account.
e. Financial transactions including deposits, interests, investments and the withdrawal of funds, interests and the sale of investments require the written approval of the Chairperson or his appointee.
f. The financial year end of the Organization will be the last day of February of each year.

10. LEGAL ACTION

The Organization may sue or be sued in its own name.

11. DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Any dispute between the members shall be referred to mediation.

12. DISSOLUTION

a. The organisation may close down if at least two-thirds of the members present and voting at a meeting convened for the purpose of considering such matter, are in favour of closing down.
b. In the event of the organisation being dissolved and ceasing to exist, the unexpended portion of any funds and any other assets which may remain in the hands of the Board immediately prior to dissolution, shall, after all debts and liabilities have been paid, be given or made over to another non-profit organisation that has similar objectives. The organisation’s general meeting can decide what organisation this should be.

13 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION

The constitution can only be changed by a resolution. This resolution has to be agreed upon and passed by no less than a two-thirds majority of members present at a meeting convened for such purpose. Members must vote at this meeting to change the constitution. Two thirds of the member shall be present at such a meeting (“the quorum”)
a. Written notice must go out no less than fourteen (14) days before the meeting at which the changes to the constitution are going to be proposed. The notice must indicate the proposed changes to the constitution that will be discussed at the meeting.
b. No amendments may be made which would have the effect of making the organization cease to exist.

14 ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION

This constitution was approved and accepted by members of the organization at an Annual General Meeting held on 01 February 2020.