Bafana legend Andre Arendse sounds alarm about lack of local goalkeepers in PSL

Bafana Bafana legend Andre Arendse does not believe the goalkeeping situation in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) has reached crisis level yet, but says it needs urgent attention. 

The statement might seem strange given the national team's present captain and keeper, Mamelodi Sundowns shot-stopper Ronwen Williams, became internationally acclaimed for his exploits helping Bafana win bronze at last year's Africa Cup of Nations. He is also the reigning PSL Footballer of the Season, an award seldom won by a keeper.

Williams earned a Ballon d'Or Yashin Trophy nomination for world goalkeeper of the year for 2024 and is the undisputed No 1 goalkeeper for Bafana. While his deputies, Sipho Chaine of Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC's Sage Stephens, have done well for the national team when called, they are clearly also not of the same quality.

There have been concerns raised over how many foreign keepers are plying their trade in the PSL, keeping South Africans on the bench at club level.

Arendse, a 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winner who was also the Bafana No 1 for the 2002 Fifa World Cup in Korea and Japan, cautioned he is not seeing too many high-quality keepers coming through the development ranks in South Africa right now. He said more focus has to be put on coaching education to develop young goalkeepers and avoid a crisis.

Bafana coach Hugo Broos has called Chaine and Ricardo Goss of SuperSport United to deputise for Williams in his squad to face Lesotho in Polokwane on Friday and Benin in Ivory Coast on Tuesday in 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

Other reputable South African goalkeepers active at their clubs are Veli Mothwa of AmaZulu and Stephens, who they have been part of the senior national squad in the recent past. 

“I don’t know if I have to be careful how I say this, but I say it with good intention,” said Arendse, who had a long playing career with teams such as Cape Town Spurs, Santos, Sundowns, SuperSport United and Bidvest Wits in South Africa and Oxford United and Fulham in England. 

“No disrespect to foreign goalkeepers because they add value to our game, but we have a problem in South Africa. I am part of the process that is going to change this, but for now we are not placing a serious enough focus on developing young goalkeepers.” 

Most clubs in the PSL rely on foreign keepers. Arendse said emphasis must be put on producing young South African talent to increase the pool to choose from. 

“Our youngest local goalkeeper in the PSL at the moment is Sipho Chaine who is 28 years old. It is not good enough. Where are the [South African] 20- and 21-year-olds who are playing first-team football for their clubs? 

“That speaks to a proper lack of development from a goalkeeping perspective. I have been in the goalkeeping business for a long time and I am working with Grant Johnson, the Bafana goalkeeper coach. We have identified the problem — it is not about going out and coaching as many goalkeepers as possible to try to correct the situation, but about coaching as many goalkeeper coaches as possible. 

“This is because coaches must go out and coach young goalkeepers to widen the pool for selection. We cannot only rely on Ronwen, Ricardo Goss, Veli Mothwa, Sage Stephens and Sipho Chaine. We need the younger crop of goalkeepers to come in and mount a serious challenge for the next five to 15 years of international football. That is a serious consideration we are currently working on.” 

Among clubs that rely on foreign goalkeepers are:

• Sekhukhune United (Badra Sangaré, Ivory Coast);
• Chippa United (Stanley Nwabali, Nigeria);
• Polokwane City (Brian Bwire, Kenya);
• Richards Bay (Salim Magoola);
• Magesi FC (Elvis Chipezeze, Zimbabwe);
• Golden Arrows (Ismail Watenga, Uganda); and
• Marumo Gallants (Daniel Akpeyi, Nigeria).