17 South Africans have played in the Premier League since readmission to international football, with mixed results, writes Nick Said.
SHAUN BARTLETT Club:
Charlton Athletic 2000–06
Bartlett was a hit in his time in England and won Goal of the Season for his strike against Leicester City in the 2000–01 campaign. He netted 24 goals in 123 appearances in the EPL for the Addicks.
KAGISHO DIKGACOI
Clubs: Fulham 2009–11, Crystal Palace 2013–14
Dikgacoi first went to England to join Fulham from Lamontville Golden Arrows – a rare occurrence of a player leaving the PSL directly for the Premier League. Things did not work out at Craven Cottage (he was sent off on his EPL debut), but he later found a happy home at Crystal Palace. In all, he spent seven years in England, but only two in the Premier League, making 39 appearances.
SEAN DUNDEE
Club: Liverpool 1998–99
Durban-born Dundee emigrated to Germany aged 19 in 1992 and started scoring goals for fun for Karlsruher. That caught the interest of Liverpool who signed him in 1998, but his stay was brief – just a single season – as he managed only three appearances and did not score a goal. He rejected joining Bafana Bafana in the hope of playing for Germany but did not make a senior international appearance.
MARK FISH
Clubs: Bolton Wanderers 1997–98; Charlton Athletic 2000–05
Fish joined Bolton in 1997 from Italian side Lazio, but Bolton were relegated at the end of that campaign. He stayed in the second tier for a few seasons before joining Bartlett at Charlton, where he spent five mostly happy years. He scored four goals in 124 EPL appearances.
QUINTON FORTUNE
Clubs: Manchester United 1999–2005; Bolton Wanderers 2006–07
Fortune was a squad player at Manchester United in his seven years at the club, but to be fair to him, they were arguably the best team in the world at the time! He played in central midfield, right midfield and, predominantly, rightback. He made 82 appearances, scoring five goals. Six appearances were late in his career at Bolton.
LYLE FOSTER
Club: Burnley 2023
Foster’s Burnley might have struggled in the 2023-24 season, but he was one of their shining lights despite mental-health issues that kept him sidelined for some time. He was one of the first names on Vincent Kompany’s team sheet and never let his boss down.
KHANYA LESHABELA
Club: Leicester City 2020–21
Midfielder Leshabela left Leicester City at the end of last season after 10 years at the club. In that time, he made a single appearance in the EPL – in the 2020/21 season, when he came off the bench in a 5–0 win against Sheffield United. In all, he saw 10 minutes of action. He was most recently on trial at Cape Town City.
MBULELO MABIZELA
Club: Tottenham Hotspur 2003–05
It started so well, with a stunning goal on debut against Leicester City, but off-field problems meant Mabizela was restricted to just seven appearances at what was then White Hart Lane. It was arguably the biggest waste of an incredible South African talent in the past 30 years.
PHIL MASINGA
Club: Leeds United 1994–96
The story goes that when they brought the late Phil Masinga and Lucas Radebe to Elland Road in 1994, Leeds United actually saw the lanky striker as the more promising signing. Masinga never really settled in the north of England though and left after 31 appearances and five goals, while Radebe is now a club legend.
BENNI MCCARTHY
Clubs: Blackburn Rovers 2006–10; West Ham United 2010–11
South Africa’s greatest ever striker was a star at Blackburn Rovers and finished runner-up in the Golden Boot race in 2006/07 behind the great Didier Drogba at Chelsea. He scored 37 goals in 120 appearances in the Premier League, which included a failed move to West Ham where injuries struck him down. He is South Africa’s leading EPL goal scorer.
LUCAS RADEBE
Club: Leeds United 1994–2004
Radebe spent a decade at the club, captained them in the UEFA Champions League and became a cult figure known as ‘The Chief’. There remains a suite named after him at Elland Road, such is the impact he made on the team and the community. There were some challenging times too, with crippling injuries and relegation, but he made 197 appearances in the English topflight.
AARON MOKOENA
Clubs: Blackburn Rovers 2004–09; Portsmouth 2009–10
‘The Axe’ was Bafana Bafana skipper during his time in the EPL and made 124 appearances in his six years at Blackburn (where he was a teammate of McCarthy) and then later Portsmouth. He was part of the Pompey team that was relegated in 2010 and continued to play for them in the second tier.
MATTY PATTISON
Club: Newcastle United 2005–07
Pattison was born in South Africa and would later play for Bafana Bafana. He was raised in the northeast of England and played for local side Newcastle in the EPL. He made 10 appearances in three seasons in the first team before leaving to join second-tier Norwich City. He later played for Mamelodi Sundowns, Bidvest Wits and Santos.
STEVEN PIENAAR
Clubs: Everton 2007–11 / 2012–16; Tottenham Hotspur 2011–12; Sunderland 2016–17
Pienaar is right up there with Radebe as South Africa’s best export to the EPL; his contribution at Everton is often played down back home and he is still revered on Merseyside for his two spells. He had less success at Tottenham and Sunderland but was a key part of an entertaining Toffees side under David Moyes. His 214 EPL appearances, during which he scored 20 goals, are higher than any other South African.
TOKELO RANTIE
Club: Bournemouth 2015–16
Another waste of a top talent, Rantie also struggled with off-field issues at Bournemouth. He was their most expensive transfer when he joined the club in 2013 from Malmö, eventually helping them to promotion in his second season. Things were already turning sour, though, and he made just three appearances in his only EPL campaign before being sold to Gençlerbirliği in Turkey.
PERCY TAU
Club: Brighton & Hove Albion 2020–21
Tau joined Brighton from Mamelodi Sundowns in 2018 but paperwork issues meant he did not get to play for them until January 2021, so he had a succession of loans in Belgium. He effectively then spent only six months as an EPL player before leaving for Al Ahly ahead of the 2021/22 campaign. He made three appearances.
ERIC TINKLER
Club: Barnsley 1997
Current Cape Town City coach Tinkler spent five seasons with English side Barnsley, but only one was in the EPL – his first in 1997/98. He made 25 appearances that term and managed two goals against Fish’s Bolton Wanderers and Wimbledon.
OTHERS WITH SA LINKS
Several other players with South African links have played in the Premier League – Chilean international Mark González (named after Mark Tovey) was born in Durban while his father Raúl played for Durban Bush Bucks. González left South Africa at age 10 and later spent the 2006/07 season at Liverpool. – Andrew Surman was born in Johannesburg and played for Southampton, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Norwich City and Bournemouth in the Premier League. He repeatedly turned down the chance to play for Bafana.– Cape Town-born Mark Stein played for Chelsea in the Premier League and scored a healthy 21 goals in 42 appearances in his first two seasons. – Pierre Issa (Chelsea), Matthew Booth (Wimbledon) and Bongani Khumalo (Tottenham Hotspur) were all on the books of English topflight sides, but never played in the competition.
