South African Football Players Union [SAFPU] has slammed Siwelele FC amid ongoing internal issues that have resulted in the sacking of CEO Stan Matthews and assistant coach Andre Arendse.
The new Betway Premiership side has been facing a handful of issues within its structures, resulting in the dismal start to the 2025/26 season. Siwelele acquired a top-flight status after the Bloemfontein businessman Calvin Le John bought SuperSport United at the end of the previous campaign.
After buying SuperSport, Siwelele have struggled to find a winning formula. They claimed only one victory, one draw, and suffered five defeats in seven games played so far.
On Sunday, 21 September, Siwelele announced the departure of experienced administrator Stan Matthews and assistant Andre Arendse, who joined the club after the purchase of Matsatsantsa.
Their chairman, Calvin Le John, who is the son of Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie, has also revealed that Siwelele will part ways with several players who haven’t shown the hunger to represent the team.
SAFPU has questioned what they regard as disrespectful and reckless behaviour towards the contracts of professionals in South African football. The union also slammed Siwelele’s policy that sees players travel 600 kilometres by bus.
WHAT SAFPU SAID ABOUT SIWELELE FC ISSUES
“SAFPU warns against reckless governance and disrespect of football contracts at Siwelele FC,” the player’s union said in a statement on Monday morning.
“The South African Football Players’ Union (SAFPU) is compelled to issue this statement in response to the troubling pronouncements and actions emanating from Siwelele FC. What we are witnessing is not merely administrative turbulence, but a dangerous assault on the hard-won gains that safeguard the dignity and security of football professionals in this country.
“Clubs are bought and sold as a going concern. This principle, secured through the relentless struggle of the Union and embraced by the Premier Soccer League, was specifically designed to protect the contracts of workers. A footballer’s livelihood cannot be treated as disposable, nor can contractual obligations be cast aside as though human beings were objects on a balance sheet.
“The newly announced 600 km travel policy is a blatant assault on the basic conditions of employment that professional footballers are entitled to. The NSL Handbook obliges clubs to guarantee safe and fair working conditions, while FIFA’s medical and safety standards are clear that player welfare must always come before financial convenience. Expecting players to travel by road for 7-8 hours, only to then perform at elite levels, is reckless and unacceptable. Such practices compromise recovery, heighten fatigue, and increase the risk of injury -directly undermining the quality of performance and the sustainability of careers.”
STAN MATTHEWS AND ANDRE ARENDSE SACKING RAISES QUESTIONS, SAYS SAFPU
“This approach is not ‘sustainability’; it is proof that financial due diligence was either neglected or irresponsibly managed when the club was acquired. To impose policies that trample on health and dignity is to shift the burden of poor planning onto the backs of players. SAFPU therefore cautions: road marathons cannot become a substitute for sound financial management. The well-being of players is non-negotiable, and any attempt to perpetually enforce this policy will not be left unchallenged.
“The parting of ways with Stan Matthews and Andre Arendse raises grave questions. The assertion that their lives and those of their families were ‘threatened on a daily basis’ is a statement of extreme seriousness. Clarity must be provided immediately to the football fraternity. Equally, we must know whether these departures were consensual or whether the club has unilaterally imposed decisions in violation of fair process. Should there have been coercion or breach, it amounts to football injustice.”
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