Tembo Finalizes Move to Durban City to Reunite with Hunt

Durban City coach Gavin Hunt has successfully rejoined forces with Kaitano Tembo, who will serve as his assistant coach at the newly promoted club.

Since being named head coach last week and taking over from Simo Dladla, Hunt has been putting together his technical staff at City.

To begin with, the former Kaizer Chiefs coach recruited Rowan Fernandez as goalkeeper coach, having previously worked with him at the now-defunct SuperSport United, where Fernandez played.

The appointment of an assistant coach was the final piece of the puzzle, and Tembo has accepted the position at the club, which aspires to meet the challenges of the upcoming league season.

Tembo was reassigned to the DStv Diski Challenge coach role at Sekhukhune United after Eric Tinkler’s arrival last season. He had originally been appointed as an assistant coach alongside head coach Lehlohonolo Seema at the beginning of the previous season.

However, following Tinkler’s appointment as head coach and his decision to bring in Marc van Heerden to collaborate with Paulus Masehe, Tembo felt sidelined.

This sense of underappreciation contributed to his decision to accept the assistant coach role at City, a club that secured promotion to the Betway Premiership at the end of last season.

The reunion with Tembo was anticipated. He spent the majority of his playing career at SuperSport United before retiring in 2006. Hunt joined the team a year later, succeeding Pitso Mosimane, and was responsible for elevating Tembo to a coaching position in July 2012, a year after SuperSport achieved a surprise victory over Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup during the 2011/12 season, a squad that included Fernandez.

Hunt departed SuperSport after the 2012/13 season to head to Bidvest Wits, and Tembo was promoted to head coach of SuperSport in July 2018. He guided the team to an MTN8 title, defeating Highlands Park in the 2019/20 season after falling short against Benni McCarthy’s Cape Town City the prior season.

In April 2022, the 54-year-old was dismissed from SuperSport, but was soon recruited by Sekhukhune United two months later. Unfortunately, just five months into his tenure there, he was let go by Babino Noko.

Tembo also had a brief stint coaching Richards Bay from July 2023 until December of the same year, ending on Christmas Day, a rather unfortunate turn of events for him and his family.

Natal Rich Boyz chairman Sifiso Biyela reportedly valued Tembo highly, believing he was unlucky with results during his coaching assignments.

This will mark Tembo’s second coaching experience in KwaZulu-Natal, while it will be Hunt’s inaugural one, despite his prior connections to Maritzburg United (now rebranded as Durban City) and AmaZulu.