25 October 2000
Rex Cat
Group of Southern Africa (RCGSA)
Article 1
Name
The name of the organisation will be “Rex Cat Group of Southern Africa” (RCGSA), hereinafter referred to as “the Group”.
Article 2
Objectives
The main
objectives of the Rex Group shall be
2.1
To encourage
and promote the greater interest, appreciation and knowledge of both Cornish and
Devon Rex cats in Southern Africa.
2.2
To encourage
responsible breeding of healthy and pure breed Cornish and Devon Rex cats, to
the standards adopted by governing bodies in South Africa, with the purpose of
improving the breed.
2.3
To cultivate
friendship and co-operation among owners, breeders and lovers of Rex cats.
2.4
To supply
the information about breeding and keeping Rex cats, as well as other relevant
matters to its members.
2.5
To educate
and promote responsible pet ownership.
2.6
To promote
Rex cats, by organising exhibitions and supplying information about both breeds
to interested publications and magazines.
2.7
To issue non-official
pedigrees for Rex Cats in Southern Africa, to
establish a database
2.8
To present non-official
rosettes to Rex cats for
participating in shows.
2.9
To ensure
that each member has the newest standard accepting by governing bodies in South
Arica.
2.10
To produce
breed brochures and other publications promoting the breeds.
Article
3
Breeding Policy
3.1
To encourage
the breeding of Cornish and Devon Rex cats which conform as closely as possible
to standard of points.
3.2
To promote
breeding of pure bred
cats with good health, temperament, and conformation and without any defects
known to be heritable traits. The exception should be made for planned and
approved breeding programmes by
the RCGSA.
Article
4
Affiliation
The Group
will be seeking the affiliation of any governing body in South Africa. Group
will aim to co-operate with similar international breeders groups.
Article
5
Membership
5.1
Any person
may belong to the Group, unless such a person has been suspended from activities
and/or services in the S.A, Cat Fancy, or any other Registry in their country of
residence; or such a person’s activities and breeding policy is harmful to the
breed.
5.2
The Members
of the Group shall consist of Ordinary, Honorary and Marketing
Members.
5.3
Application
for membership must be made in writing on the official form. This form must be
completed and submitted with the correct fees to the Secretary, where after it
may be accepted or rejected by all members. Rejected applications are
refundable.
5.4
Honorary
Membership may be granted by the Committee in recognition of services to the
Group and those Members shall be entitled to the same privileges as ordinary
members.
5.5
Every member
shall promote the Objectives of the Group and shall notify the Committee of any
matter contrary to these Objectives.
5.6
An annual
Membership fee shall be payable by Ordinary members before the last day of
September. The monthly Membership fee shall be payable the latest the 10th
of each month, after which day the Member loses his/her Membership status until
the payment is settled. The membership fees shall be reviewed annually by AGM.
Article
6
Officers and Committee
6.1
The affairs
of the Group shall be conducted by the RCGSA Committee consisting of seven
elected members, who do so voluntary and will not receive any salary or
remuneration for their time and services.
6.2
Such
elections shall take place at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). In case of
resignation from the Committee the election for that particular position will be
held at the next ordinary meeting of the Committee.
6.3
The
Committee consists of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary,
Treasurer, Ordinary
Member, Marketing Member and Honorary Member.
6.4
Committee
members will serve the Group for a year and will be eligible for reelection. No
person can be elected for the same position for more than three consecutive
years. No person can be a member of the Committee for more than four consecutive
years.
6.5
Up
to two members of the board can be forwarded to the next year of board
membership by voting of the existing board.
6.6
All
seven board members should have full voting rights to give a more objective and
fair view of the RCGSA members.
Article
7
Duties of Officers and Committee
7.1
The
Committee shall strive to carry out all the objectives of the Breed Group and
everything incidental or conclusive thereto.
7.2
The
Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary, Marketing
Member and at least one Member shall be elected annually at the Annual
General Meeting. No person can stay as a member of the Committee for more than
four continuous years. The
Honorary member is a non-elective life time member.
7.3
The
Chairperson shall preside at all meetings and ensure that such meetings are
conducted in a proper and orderly manner in accordance with the Constitution.
The Chairperson will be a representative of the Group to governing Cat Fancy
bodies in South Africa.
7.4
The
Vice-Chairperson shall be assisting Chairperson and act as such in absence of
Chairperson.
7.5
The
Secretary shall keep minutes of all meetings, check accounts and pass them to
the Treasurer for payment, handle all paperwork and general correspondence,
notify members of meetings, etc.
7.6
The
Treasurer is responsible for banking all money received, the issue of receipts
and the payment of invoices, having checked that these are in order. The
Treasurer keeps the financial books of the Group in order and notifies the
Committee if overspending occurs.
7.7
The rest of
the Committee supports these Officers and perform other duties as decided by the
Committee.
7.8
The Auditor
shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting each year. His/her duty shall be
to audit all the accounts of the Group and produce the certified balance sheet
and income statement for the Group’s financial year, ending 31 August of each
year.
Article
8
Meetings
8.1
The Group
shall be entitled to hold meetings in order to decide matters of importance to
the Group as well as to exchange information and work on breeding and showing
programmes.
8.2
The Group
shall meet at least every two months.
8.3
A general
meeting of the Group, called the Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held not
later than the annual
Rex of the Year competition.
10.1.1
Notice of this AGM shall be given by the Secretary to all members not
less than 14 days prior to such a meeting.
10.1.2
The agenda of the AGM shall include:
8.3.2.1
Confirmation of the minutes of the previous AGM.
8.3.2.2
Chairperson’s report.
8.3.2.3
Treasurer’s report, which shall include balance sheet and income and
expenditure statement, signed by the Auditor for the financial year.
8.3.2.4
Election of Officers.
8.3.2.5
Alternations to this Constitution. Such alternations must be proposed and
seconded in writing by members at least 30 days before the AGM.
8.3.2.6
Members wishing any matters to be considered by the AGM must give exact
details of such matters in writing to the Secretary at least 30 days before the
date of the AGM.
8.3.2.7
Nominations for the election of Group Committee members, duly proposed
and seconded by members of the Group and signed by the candidate, shall be
posted to the Secretary. A complete list of nominations will be sent to members
not later than 14 days before the date of the AGM.
8.3.2.8
Only fully paid members in good standing will be allowed to vote at
general meetings of the Group. In the event of an equality vote, the Chairperson
presiding at such meeting shall have a casting vote. All decisions have to be
approved by a minimum of 2/3 votes.
8.3.2.9
Absent members shall be entitled to vote in respect
of the business on the Agenda by postal vote only, providing they are resident
outside a 60 km radius of where the General Meeting is to be held. Their votes
have to be received by the Secretary not later than 48
hours before the meeting. This
allows time to finalise votes for the AGM.
8.4
AGM’s and
special general meetings may be convened by majority decision of the Committee
of on request of at least two-thirds of the members of the Group.
8.5
The
Committee shall meet at such times as are mutually convenient for the majority
of members. The business of the Committee may be conducted by phone, fax,
writing or via email, and the votes or a majority of those voting shall be
sufficient to adopt or ratify a proposal, so long as at least half of the
members participate.
8.6
The
Committee shall carry on the day to day operations of the Group.
Article
9
Delegate to Breed Council
9.1
The
Chairperson will be representing the Group to the Breed Councils of the
governing bodies of Cat Fancy in South Africa. If the Chairperson cannot be a
delegate, the Committee or
NCBE of CFSA can appoint another delegate.
9.2
The delegate
shall cast votes at the meeting in accordance with instructions received from
the Committee.
Article
10
Discipline
10.1
The
Committee shall have the power to reprimand, suspend or expel any member who:
10.1.1
Is prejudicial to the welfare, breeding or exhibiting of cats, or treats
cat/s in a cruel or inhumane manner.
10.1.2
Conducts him/herself in such a manner that proves to be damaging to
character, reputation, interest and objectives of the Group.
10.1.3
Is suspended from any activities or use of services within the Cat Fancy
in Southern Africa, or from any other Registry in their country of residence.
10.2
Any member
so charged shall be given notice in writing of the allegations together with
copies of all documents submitted to substantiate the charge. The member charged
will have 30 days to respond. The offending party may appeal against the
decision of the Committee/Ethics Committee according to the Rules and
Regulations of the Office.
Article
11
Amendments
11.1
For any
amendment to be made to the Group’s Constitution, it must be proposed by a
majority of the Committee; or submitted in writing setting forth the exact
wording of the proposed amendment and signed by the proposing members.
11.2
Members will
be notified of the proposed amendment/s in writing and have to respond within 30
days after the mailing of the notification.
11.3
The
Constitution will be amended if the majority of members voting support the
proposed amendments.
Article
12
Dissolution of the Group
12.1
The Group
may dissolve if:
12.1.1
Is prejudicial to the welfare, breeding or exhibiting of cats, or treats
cat/s in a cruel or inhumane manner.
12.1.2
The total membership of the Group drops seven members, from which at
least five have to be breeders.
