Mongoya Defends Kruger United Transfer Policy
Kruger United coach Abram Mongoya has defended the club’s recruitment strategy following their disappointing Betway Premiership defeat to Kaizer Chiefs, insisting they will continue to trust their scouting process by signing players they believe can strengthen the squad rather than pursuing experienced names based solely on reputation.
The Mpumalanga outfit made history on Saturday by playing their first-ever match in South Africa’s top flight after earning promotion as champions of the 2025/26 Motsepe Foundation Championship.
Their arrival in the Betway Premiership also made them only the second club from Mpumalanga to compete in the division alongside TS Galaxy.
Despite beginning life in the Premiership with a defeat to Kaizer Chiefs, Mongoya was encouraged by what he saw from his players and believes the performance justified the faith the technical team has placed in the current squad.
“I think people have to get used to Kruger United and the technical staff,” Mongoya said.
“We are a team that takes some risks. We don’t have the privilege of bringing in top-class players from elsewhere, and we don’t want to recycle players who are not going to help us.
“So we’ll take risks and bring in players who are capable of competing. I think we deserve seven out of 10 for our performance. It was a good performance for me.”
Unlike many newly promoted sides that strengthen their squads with several experienced Premiership players, Kruger United opted against a major recruitment drive.
Instead, they signed four experienced players: goalkeeper Fiacre Ntwari on loan from Kaizer Chiefs, while Katlego Mohamme, Sipho Sibiya and Thabang Sibanyoni arrived on permanent deals.
Of those new additions, only Mohamme and Sibiya were available for selection against Chiefs, while Ntwari and Sibanyoni were absent from the matchday squad.
The newly promoted side were also without experienced midfielder Celimpilo Ngema, whose absence raised questions before kick-off. Mongoya revealed that the club decided not to risk the midfielder because of a minor injury, prioritising the long-term campaign over a single match.
“Ngema was unavailable because of a minor injury,” Mongoya added.
“He had a slight muscle injury that we needed to monitor. He could have played, but it might have aggravated the injury and made it worse.
“We’ve got 29 more league games to play, plus the cup competitions. We still need players like Ngema, so we were happy to leave him out today and have him available later on. Hopefully, he’ll be back and fit for the next game.”
Kruger United will now have a break from league action as the MTN8 takes centre stage this weekend.
They are scheduled to return to Betway Premiership action next Tuesday when they travel to Rustenburg to face Marumo Gallants, who are still waiting to play their opening league fixture after their match against Mamelodi Sundowns was postponed.
