Durban City’s first match of the New Year at home to Polokwane City on Sunday will mark the debut in charge of new coach Sinethemba Badela, who has taken over following the surprise axing of Gavin Hunt in December.
Durban City were only the third club this season to make a coaching change, following Chippa United and Kaizer Chiefs, and since Hunt’s axing, Stellenbosch have also been forced into a change with Steve Barker heading to Tanzania.
The 36-year-old Badela, ironically, was the first coaching casualty of the season when Chippa fired him after two matches. The Eastern Cape-based side have since had Musa Nyatama, Morgan Mamilla and Luc Eymael in charge before turning to Vusumuzi Vilakazi in October.
Chiefs fired Nasredddine Nabi in September, with his estranged assistants Khaled Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze staying on as co-coaches until the end of the season.
Hunt began his 28th successive season as a coach in the Betway Premiership in charge of City, who had been newly promoted but whose coach Simo Dladla left before the start of the season to be Arthur Zwane’s assistant at AmaZulu.
Hunt did not take long after his dismissal to reappear as coach at Stellenbosch, his 10th different top-flight club. His debut in charge on Tuesday saw them resume the league with a 1-0 win at Sekhukhune United, which was only their fourth victory in 15 Betway Premiership matches this season for the clubs from the Winelands.
Coaches from 12 clubs remain in place since the start of the season.