Stellenbosch FC reject Remgro riches in pursuit of self-sufficiency

Stellenbosch FC are committed to operating as a self-sustaining club and will not rely on the wealth of parent company Remgro or its billionaire chairman, Johann Rupert, chief executive Rob Benadie says.

The Winelands club have instead focused on developing talent in the region and taking a measured approach to the transfer market, without committing large sums of money.

Speaking on Metro FM’s Sports Night Amplified with Andile Ncube, Benadie was asked why Stellenbosch do not make greater use of the financial resources available through Remgro.

“That is true. I mean, we do get a bit of that from the start. You know, you would have, whether it’s players, agents, thinking that there’s a lot of money within the Stellenbosch Football Club because of our ultimate chairman,” Benadie said.

He explained that the group’s decentralised management structure meant individual businesses were expected to run their own operations.

“That’s not the way we really run businesses. It’s got a decentralised management system that Remgro operates with, which means that the different business entities that they are invested in, happen to be 100% investment, which is Stellenbosch Football Club, but they allow management of the different companies to really manage it and to try and become self-sustainable businesses,” he said.

Benadie said Stellenbosch were not run primarily to generate profit, describing the club as an “impact investment” alongside other projects supported by Remgro.

“Now, our business isn’t a business to make any profits. It’s what we call an impact investment. So, you know, you mentioned Mr. Rupert’s name and Remgro, fantastic people, and they’ve invested in a number of different impact investments, whether it’s on the rugby, the golf, other sports, community projects, Stellenbosch Football Club. There’s really a host of different impact investments that we manage and operate on an annual basis.”

He acknowledged that the club’s chairman had the financial strength to support a much greater spending programme, but said Stellenbosch were not currently planning to use it.

“So, yes, you’re right. I mean, our chairman has a lot of disposable income, you can say, and we could give Sundowns a run for it if we spent a lot more money,” Benadie said.

“Our strategy might change in future, but for now, we want to try and be self-sustainable and run the football club along the lines of trying to at least break even.”

Benadie also recognised the difficulty PSL clubs can face when trying to attract sponsors, although he said sponsorship had not been a significant obstacle for Stellenbosch.

The Stellenbosch chief executive further rejected the suggestion that the club’s model was simply to sell its best players to bigger rivals.