Family, friends, and fans gathered in Stellenbosch on Saturday (25 July) to bid farewell to Jayden Adams, Bafana Bafana footballer and the town’s son.

The funeral for Adams (25) was held at the Coetzenburg Centre. Here the bereaved family as well as former teammates and friends viewed Adams for the last time before the official service started.

Football bigwigs in attendance included President of the South African Football Association (SAFA) Danny Jordaan, national Minister of Sport Gayton McKenzie, and Patrice Motsepe, President of the Confederation of African Football. All three paid tribute to the young football midfielder who died earlier this month in Cape Town, after he and the rest of Bafana Bafana returned from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Mamelodi Sundowns FC chairman, Thlopie Motsepe, spoke of the young man’s magic on the field, emphasising the spell he seemed to cast on the field. “Jayden had a way of filling the room without ever demanding attention,” Motsepe explained. “Jayden was many things to many people. He was so much more than a football player but what a footballer he was,” he added. About Adams’s nickname, Motsepe said the Stellenbosch son lived the meaning of “Grootman” daily.

“A grootman is somebody people respect, someone people trust, someone people look up to, someone whose character is greater than their years. Jayden was only 25 years old but in so many ways he was already a groot man, not simply because it was his nickname – it was the man he had become,” he added.

Adams grew up between Ida’s Valley and Cloetesville and inherited his father Juanito’s love of football. At 5 years old Adams started to play for Ida’s Valley club Nelson’s FC and did not look back. Even as a youngster Adams’s talent shone through and according to Juanito, his son played for the u-9, u-11, and the u-13 teams all in one day after these teams were a player short. As a teen Adams played for Maties, Ajax Cape Town and the local Glen Eagles before joining Stellenbosch FC. In January 2025 Adams signed with Mamelodi Sundowns.

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Juanito delivered a moving eulogy about his son, while family friend Garth le Roux read two letters as part of the tributes. The first letter was from Jayden’s partner and the mother of his daughter (5), Aqueelah Adendorf, and the second from Liverpool FC’s CEO Billy Hogan. Liverpool was Adams’s favourite Premier League team, and he had hopes of one day playing for The Reds.

Jayden was laid to rest locally during a private burial which was attended only by family and close friends.