Jean Charles Ahoua scored the only goal of the game at the Amaan Stadium in first-half stoppage time.
Neither side set the tie ablaze in the early exchanges with the first real chance arriving on 17 minutes as Simba right-back Shomari Kapombe fired over Masuluke Oscarine in the Stellies goal after being set up by Kibu Denis.
It was Simba who were dominating the possession stakes though and Masuluke was at full stretch on 30 minutes to deny Ahoua.
Simba stopper Moussa Camara, meanwhile, pulled off an excellent save to stop Stellies from taking the lead as he kept out a goal-bound Devin Titus header.
The home though were ahead in the second minute of injury time though as Ahoua floated home a free-kick that deceived the Stellies back line and a stranded Masuluke.
There were question marks over the validity of the goal as Denis was in an offside position and made attempts to reach the ball before Ahoua struck, but the goal was awarded after a VAR check.
The away team looked to respond and showed some real attacking intent and even came close to an equaliser with an effort just wide from Andre De Jong.
Stellies tried their best to find a breakthrough as the second half wore on but were unable to find a way past their Tanzanian rivals.
The two sides do duty again in the second leg at the Moses Mabhida Stadium next Sunday.
Despite a narrow 1-0 loss to Tanzania's Simba SC in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup semifinals, Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker remains confident in his team's ability to overturn the deficit.
Stellenbosch face a stern test of their credentials in their CAF Confederation Cup semi-final first-leg clash against Simba SC on Sunday.
Stellenbosch FC moved up to third in the Betway Premiership standings after Sanele Barns scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory against Amazulu at the Danie Craven Stadium on Tuesday.
AmaZulu FC head coach Arthur Zwane believes it's up to the team to qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup next season.
