Sifiso Hlanti, Keagan Dolly and Siyethemba Sithebe leaving Chiefs

By Mazola Molefe
25th June 2024

SABC Sport can confirm Sifiso Hlanti, Keagan Dolly and Siyethemba Sithebe will be all leaving Kaizer Chiefs at the end of the week following a decision by the club not to retain their services ahead of the new season.

This means the trio will effectively become free agents and soon be in a position to move to destinations of their choice.

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According to information received by the public broadcaster, the Amakhosi hierarchy were waiting on the incoming technical team to make a call on several of the out of contract players at Naturena.

Hlanti, Dolly and Sithebe being among them have since been informed that Chiefs are going in a different direction and are now giving them permission to speak to other clubs.

The defender joined Amakhosi from Moroka Swallows, a side he’d signed for on the back of Bidvest Wits being sold in September 2020.

Chiefs also gave Hlanti an extension to his initial deal by one more season after an announcement made last year when there had been confusion regarding his future – but the option on that contract has not been exercised.

Hlanti played a total 62 matches for The Glamour Boys and 24 of those came during the previous season under coaches Molefi Ntseki and Cavin Johnson, who took over from the latter after he was sacked 114 days into the job.

The Soweto giants will soon make further announcements on the changes in the technical team, with Nasreddine Nabi expected to take over the hot seat alongside his own backroom staff that includes Fernando Da Cruz as his assistant, a goalkeeper and fitness coach ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

Dolly also arrived at Naturena around the same time, so did Sithebe from France and AmaZulu, respectively, as free agents.

A player representative who spoke to SABC Sport on condition of anonymity expressed dissatisfaction at how the issue was handled.

“The players were called earlier today and simply told their contracts were not being renewed. But I suppose this is how the club is being run these days. It’s not fair on the players who now have to look for employment over the next few days – we believe the approach could have been better.”