[1] Steve was born in Golden Valley farm, 20 km outside Kroonstad to Jack Koyi Koyo and Nomalanga Komphela as the youngest of 11 children.
He later joined Kaizer Chiefs where he played all 34 league games and signed a contract overseas on 16 August 1993 moving to Gaziantepspor for the second half of 1993/94 season alongside fellow South African Teboho Moloi.
He taught at the Johannesburg Secondary School but apart from being a life orientation teacher and a professional footballer, Komphela was also a TV presenter.
[2][8] Komphela was approached by SABC to be the host of a football talk show but rejected this opportunity.
[10] He resigned as head coach of the club with immediate effect following a 2-0 Nedbank Cup semi-final loss to Free State Stars in April 2018.
He won the first six consecutive league games and got a 2–2 draw against Kaizer Chiefs, after which his team was down to 2–0 at one point later in the second-half.
He managed Golden Arrows but resigned a day before he was announced as the new Mamelodi Sundowns coach.