“Recruitment Has Not Worked”: Benadie Admits Key Departures Finally Hurting Stellies
Stellenbosch CEO Rob Benadie has issued a candid warning, admitting that the club’s long-standing policy of selling star players to the “Big Three” is finally threatening their top-flight status.
In a season defined by upheaval, Stellies have spent much of the 2025/26 campaign mired in the relegation zone.
Benadie draws a chilling parallel to Maritzburg United, who were relegated in 2023 after years of selling their best talent to Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs, and Mamelodi Sundowns.
Has the ‘Selling Club’ Model Broken?
For years, Stellenbosch defied the odds, replacing departing stars with ease. However, the recent exodus of Jayden Adams, Iqraam Rayners, and Fawaaz Basadien to Sundowns—alongside Zitha Kwinika and Ashley du Preez to Kaizer Chiefs—has left a void that current recruitment hasn’t filled.
They also sold Deano van Rooyen and Andre de Jong to Pirates.
“I think it is a challenge for us and also many clubs,” said Benadie.
“But we do pride ourselves in developing players to get them better. You are right every season almost we are losing very key players, and we have done a great job at a number of years by thinking ahead that we might lose Jayden, we might Fawaaz and try and secure someone else before the players actually go.
“This year, to be very honest with you, some of our recruitment has not worked out the way we wanted to.
“Yes, it has caught up with us a little with key players, especially the foreigners coming in.
“You never know how quickly they are going to adapt to the local league. There are a number of different factors that I think caught up with us this season.
“I thought we had one of our best, we thought, squads with regards to quality in each position. In other words, the depth of the squad last year and the start of this year, is very good. But yet, we haven’t performed.
“So, we looked at ourselves, and we did introspection to see off the field, on the field, with our coaching, with our development. We identify a few things, and we are busy adapting to that, changing to that.”
Life After Steve Barker: The Gavin Hunt Era
The club faced its biggest transition in December when Steve Barker, the longest-serving coach in the PSL (eight years), departed for Tanzanian giants Simba SC.
Barker, who led the club to a Carling Knockout trophy and consecutive third-place finishes, left a legacy of stability that has proven hard to replicate.
Four-time league winner Gavin Hunt was brought in to steer the ship, but the transition hasn’t been seamless. But Hunt has stabilised Stellies to lie ninth in the table with 28 points after 22 matches.
“Obviously, with the new coach, he has his own ideas. You can see now the personnel that he is using, the way he is playing. It is a little bit different from Steve,” Benadie explained.
“It was going to be like that no matter who we changed. The players and staff had to get used to that and support him hundred percent at the same time.”
