Club Membership Changes - Termination of 2 Tier Membership

[Mark Trollope]

TERMINATION OF THE 2 TIER MEMBERSHIP MODEL


PREFACE
This notice follows the original thread dated 3 June 2014 (see http://landcruiserclub.co.za/forum/view ... 48&t=64297) and follows a meeting of the Custodians of the Land Cruiser Club of Southern Africa, held on Saturday 25th July 2014 in Centurion, Gauteng, where the Custodians unanimously agreed to terminate the 2 tier membership model.

The Custodians wish to thank members for their overwhelming support during this process. For those members who have expressed their concerns, the Custodians thank them for the constructive input they have provided in finalising this notice.

The Land Cruiser Club of Southern Africa will once again become an OPEN Club, on the 1st September 2014.


MEMBERSHIP TO THE LAND CRUISER CLUB OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
Membership to the Land Cruiser Club is open to all Land Cruiser owners and we also invite owners of vehicles other than Land Cruisers who have an interest in vehicle based off road activities and Land Cruiser vehicles.

The club’s interaction will be through physical gathering of members for meetings, social events, workshops, trips and trails, as well as an internet based Clubhouse on the website “Land Cruiser Club – Southern Africa” : URL www.landcruiserclub.co.za

The objectives of the Club will be;
To facilitate Club members’ enjoyment of Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles and other areas of common off road interests,
To provide a Clubhouse in the form of an internet forum where members share their interest, knowledge and expertise in Land Cruiser vehicles,
To ensure that its Members act within the provisions of its Rules and Constitution without any primary objective of gain or profit,
To participate in organised structures and comply with statutory rules and regulations.


RECREATIONAL CLUB : INCOME TAX ACT & EXEMPTION STATUS
The Land Cruiser Club of Southern Africa is an independent body which is registered as a Recreational Club with SARS and, as such, are exempted from paying income tax based on certain conditions.

The basis of the exemption is the concept of “by members for members” who contribute by way of membership fees to fund the Club. Under this principle, the sharing of expenses (in the form of membership fees) by members joined together based on mutuality, does not generate additional taxable income and it is to this extend that recreational clubs enjoy preferential tax treatment.

It is a definite requirement that each member is required to pay membership fees for the use of the facilities (in our case, the Clubhouse / Forum) OR the right to belong to the Club in order to share in the mutual interest, expenditure or facilities provided by the Club.

The Club is not allowed to engage in commercial activities to secure funding.

For additional information see the SARS publication LAPD-Gen-G04 - Tax Guide for Recreational Clubs, published Dec 2013;
http://www.sars.gov.za/AllDocs/OpsDocs/ ... 0Guide.pdf


HOW IT WILL WORK
On the 1st September 2014, all current forum members will be granted full access to the Club and all forums and threads on the Club forum.

After the 31st December, full access will be disabled to all current forum members who have not paid his/her compulsory membership fees to become a Club member.

After payment of the annual fee (see below) that member will have full access to the Club and to all threads within the Club’s internet forum.

All existing Club members will pay in January of each year to remain a member of the Club.
Existing members not paid up by 31st January will forfeit their access to the LCCSA.

After 1 September 2014, any prospective new member will register as normal via the online registration form. This temporary user will have a period of 90 days - from the day they register – with full access to the LCCSA, in order to determine whether they want to become a member.
During this period that member will have “Temporary User” status within the Club.
After 90 days – should they not have become a paid member – their IP address and user name will be automatically disabled.

Should a current forum member or temporary user choose not to join the club, their forum posts remain intact and will not be removed. Such person may request an electronic extract of his/her posts from the Forum Administrator who will send the extract within a reasonable time.

If they do choose to become a member, the new online application form (to be implemented before 1 September 2014) will be available to ensure that they effortlessly can convert to Club members.
A 12 hour period is required from payment to ensure registration is complete.


LCCSA ANNUAL FEE
The current annual fee – until 31 December 2015 – is R150 per person per annum.
Spouses of existing members may join in their own capacity, and then only pay R80 per annum.

Annual fees will be determined by the Custodians and future membership fees will be calculated on a cost recovery basis.
The annual membership fee as stipulated above is payable irrespective of month of the year (non pro-rata).
Annual Fees are due by January of each year.

Members not paid up by 31st January will forfeit their access to the LCCSA Club.
Unlike previous years, it is no longer a requirement to own a Land Cruiser, nor is it necessary to be seconded by a current member.


USE OF THE LCCSA V.H.F. FREQUENCY
Paid up Club members may apply for a license to use the LCCSA VHF frequency.

The Annual membership Fee currently does include VHF fees, however the Custodians reserve the right to charge a VHF admin fee to recover changes and/or revised fees, as handed down by ICASA.

At present, there is no VHF admin fees payable for 2015. Fees for 2015 have not yet been confirmed/received from ICASA.
A separate VHF registration form is required to be completed by all members who wish to make use of the VHF frequency.
Use of the VHF frequency is subject to strict controls enforced by ICASA.

Each member must familiarise themselves with the requirements by checking here;
http://landcruiserclub.co.za/forum/view ... cy#p267621


PROVISION FOR “GRANDFATHERS” (CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS)
Any ‘forum’ or current ‘club’ member, registered as such on 30 September 2014, may apply to become a grandfather of the Club based on contributions made to the LCCSA and its forum.

Grandfathers will be facilitated as a contributing member and will not be required to pay a fee for membership to the Land Cruiser Club, unless required to do so in compliance with legislation.

The application must be in writing, with a brief motivation. The application should be addressed to admin@landcruiserclub.co.za and will be considered by the Custodians in absolute confidentiality.

Any member registered on the forum as at 30 September 2014 may apply. No application in terms of this provision will be unreasonably withheld.
Any member who is deemed to have made a contribution to the Club/Forum, will be considered.

The online status of that member will be differentiated in accordance with legislative guidelines.
Contributing Members will have to apply annually for this status to be maintained.


LAPSED MEMBERS
Should an existing club member not pay membership by 31st January each year, their membership will be automatically disabled. The software requires that the member then re-applies for membership, and after paying the fees, will be a full member once again.

No posts from any disabled member will be removed
The post count for any lapsed member will start again at zero.

No guarantee can be given that a lapsed member’s original name can be used (only applicable when someone with the same name registers in the interim)
The software will differentiate each member by their login names, with distinguishing ID numbers.


FORUM CLEANUP
A forum clean-up has been initiated by the Custodians.
This will prune previously registered members from the skewed membership, where members have either;
- A post of zero and have not logged in for more than 12 months.
- Members with a post count and that have not logged in for a period of 12 months will be disabled and sent an e-mail to advise them of the intended pruning and requesting them to log in to regain their status.

If a member has been pruned/disabled, their posts will not be affected, and will not be removed.

After this forum clean-up, and after 1 February 2015, the forum software will automatically disable non Club members.


CONSTITUTION
The Constitution will be amended to facilitate the decisions, and an independent lawyer has been instructed to attend thereto.

The current elected Custodians, present at the meeting on 25 July 2014, all unanimously agreed to the opening of Club, and dissolving of the 2-tier membership.

The revised Constitution will be posted on the Club website (www.landcruiserclub.co.za) as soon as possible but no later than 30 September 2014.


(On behalf of the LCCSA Custodians - August 2014)