New St Francis Links board, directors get members’ support
At a recent St Francis Links AGM, the vast majority of shareholders and members demonstrated their support for the board and newly appointed directors Kevin McNaughton and Elsabé Du Preez.
This was despite various allegations made in the media in recent months.
The meeting was attended by 67.75% of the member base.
St Francis Links CEO Jeff Clause tabled his report, which reflected a healthy financial position, significant increases in golf rounds, as well as numerous improvements on the estate.
Further plans include expanding amenities for families and children and capital expenditure exceeding R10m.
“We fully support new board members,” HOA and club chair Mike Wylie said.
“As the developer inches closer to ending the development period, we hope for a return to the vision we had when we developed and opened in 2006, that of a harmonious community on one of the best estates in the country.”
He also highlighted the outstanding financial results which had limited the combined levies and subscription increase to only 5.43% and that the estate’s reserves had never been healthier.
The average annual increase of the estate’s levies and subscriptions since 2010 was 6%, he said.
St Francis Links recently hosted a successful SDC Championship, a Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned event with a purse of $1.5m (R26.7m) that gained significant international and local live television coverage, not only for the estate, but also for the Kouga region.
More than 100 homes have been constructed on the estate since the Covid-19 pandemic and more than 80% of its residents live there permanently.
The golf course is ranked as the fourth best in SA.
Wylie said a shadow had been cast over the estate by ongoing attempts to discredit the boards and management by a small splinter group on the estate.
Monday’s AGM, however, demonstrated that issues should be dealt with in the appropriate forums as opposed to pursuing personal agendas in the media, he said.
He encouraged members to move forward and support future boards in uniting the Links community.
The AGM voting results, scrutinised by an independent, leading company specialising in AGM hosting platforms, confirmed that the majority of St Francis Links shareholders and members sided with the way in which the boards had compliantly governed the estate over the past 16 years.
This was supported by various opinions obtained by the boards from legal and tax experts.