Former Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Benedict ‘Tso’ Vilakazi has taken another step forward in his coaching career after being announced as the new head coach of Prestige Football Academy.

The academy participates in the Gauteng Development League (GDL) in Stream B and has a team in the SAFA Johannesburg Hollywoodbets Regional League. Prestige was exploring a potential development partnership with Kaizer Chiefs last year but it’s unclear how talks progressed.

The 41-year-old has been vocal about pursuing a career in coaching after hanging up his boots in 2015 and has been making his way up through amateur ranks. Vilakazi was conferred with a CAF B coaching license in May 2024.

Now at the helm with a chance to nurture future stars – a desire he always raved about, the Buccaneers’ all-time top-goal scorer has outlined his mission and ambitions at the Gauteng-based development team.

“I’m here at Prestige Academy, where I believe I’m going to add value and I’m looking forward to that because one thing about me is that I want to build a player possibly like me. It’s been years without seeing midfielders that can create chances and score goals,” Tso told the club’s media team.

“So, that’s my mission. With the academy itself, we have a program that we want to develop players that will play at the highest level – especially now that we have an agreement with Mainz from Germany (Bundesliga) that they will take our players to go play overseas.”

The ex-Bafana diminutive playmaker, who was part of the Betway 12th man initiative that helps retired athletes to venture into careers in sports and business amongst others, shed light on his role at the academy.

“My role as the head coach of the academy is looking out [for the players] in terms of putting the structure, philosophy, and the culture that we need to have so that we can develop quality players,” added Vilakazi, who earned 31 caps with the national team.

“That’s the mission that we have at Prestige, to make sure that we help these kids in South Africa have a bright future, but it will come from us as coaches. Personally, for me as a coach to say, this is what I have learned from the game, and this is what I’m going to give to the young ones.

“Now, as a qualified coach, I know what I’m talking about, I know what it takes to develop payers, so my job and our job as Prestige is to make sure that there’s a bright future here at Prestige.” 

Vilakazi, despite a distinguished career, was part of the Bafana Bafana side that flopped in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations and lost all group-stage matches in Egypt without scoring a goal.