Here we go again.
The season is skaars over and already another exodus of Cape football talent has begun.
It seems to happen every year
Once players in the Mother City have a great season, they get snapped up by the big fish in Gauteng.
Or if a team has just managed to win some silverware, it gets stripped down like a hijacked VW Polo.
Cape fans must be sick of it.
The question on their lips is always: How are the clubs supposed to compete for trophies with Mamelodi Sundowns or keep our stars out of the clutches of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates?
But I’m here to tell you that it’s all part of the plan.
This is how football works in the Cape - it’s just business.
Cape Town City had a major turnaround of players in January and now Stellenbosch’s golden harvest is being exported.
So let’s break down the reasons.
First up, while City and Stellies always claim their aim is to reach the top of Mzansi football, they just don’t have the resources to compete with the clubs in Joburg.
That’s not to say that they are not ambitious, but they are not going to dig themselves a hole financially to compete with the bright lights in Gauteng.
I can point to Western Province Rugby and their cricket counterparts’ helse money problems in the last decade just to see what happens when you chase the dream - it doesn’t always work.
But while geld doesn’t grow on trees, fortunately sporting talent is a resource that our unions can tap again and again.
City and Stellies may not have the money to pay big salaries for their stars, but they always bank on homegrown talent.
They have a conveyor belt of hungry kids ready to make the step up.
While Stellies are ready to let their crown jewel Ashley du Preez join Chiefs, they have an ace in the hole with Fuad Johnson coming through the ranks.
The 19-year-old striker finished top goalscorer in the Diski Challenge, which Stellies won and coach Steve Barker isn’t scared to unleash his laaities.
He has done it before with the likes of Jayden Adams, Roy-Keane Avontuur and Antonio van Wyk.
Same at City, where Luphumlo “Kaka” Sifumba has already announced himself in the mid-season break’s DSTv Compact Cup.
And there are more with rightback Patrick Fisher, midfielder Taahir Goedeman and Jaeden Rhodes.
It’s a model City owner John Comitis has been using since his Ajax Cape Town days.
Another trick the Cape clubs have used well is bringing in foreigners on a budget.
West African and South American talent is popping up at Hartleyvale and at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport.
The value for money that they can extract is similar to what a Sowetan giant would get when buying a top Cape talent and pay him the big bucks.
What it comes down to is that innie Kaap, the local talent always wins.
I guess that’s all we can hope for, right?