The Betway Premiership is heading toward a dramatic photo finish as league debutants Orbit College find themselves holding the keys to the South African football kingdom. In a classic David versus Gol...
The 16 Premier Soccer League teams in the Betway Premiership are edging closer to the end of a gruelling 10-month season as they prepare for their final two matchday league fixtures.
Mamelodi Sundown...
Siwelele FC made a powerful start in their historic Betway Premier League debut match as they beat Lamontville Golden Arrows 3–1 to set the pace at the top of the premiership table.
The Dr. Rantlai Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein was packed to the rafters by supporters of the Green and White, who got a perfect glimpse of what their team is all about in 2025/2026 league campaign.
From the first whistle to the last, Siwelele gave their fans plenty to cheer about, as put on a dominant performace that saw Siviwe Magidigidi score a brace while Vincent Pule netting a single goal to wrap a historic victory on home turf.
Magidigidi opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a thundering top of the net close finish, with Pule doubling Siwelele's lead a few minutes later to send their supporters into a huge frenzy.
Siwelele dominated the first half, putting constant pressure on Arrows who struggled to keep possession of the ball. The visitors, however, came back stronger in beginning stages of the second stanza with Keenan Phillips pulling one back for Abafana Besthende in the 50th minute.
Siwelele’s fighting spirit remained as Magidigidi's header found the back of the net six minutes later from a corner kick.
Magidigidi's brace was enough to seal the game and give Siwelele all three points in Bloemfontein, with the striker ultimately claiming the Man of the Match accolade.
Siwelele will hope to notch up their second win on the trot when they face fellow debutants, Orbit College, away on Tuesday evening at Dobsonvile Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg. The match will kick-off at 19:30.
Premier Soccer League (PSL) entrants Siwelele FC officially unveiled their new kit and player acquisitions in front of their loyal supporters in Bloemfontein ahead of their opening fixture this Saturday. For their home games, the team will don green shorts paired with a shirt featuring green vertical stripes. In contrast, for away games, the team will wear black shorts accompanied by a shirt with green and white horizontal stripes in front. The club further announced the signings of four new players ahead of the 2025/26 Betway Premiership season. The new signings include Bu hle Mkhwanazi, a veteran centre-back and former Bafana Bafana defender, Relebogile Mokhuoane, a central midfielder joining from Sekhukhune Unit ed, Thabo Makhele, who joins from Chippa United, and Wayde Lekay, a striker returning to South Africa after playing for Churchill Brothers in India. Drawing from the passion Siwelele fans are re nowned for Pule Mabena, Siwelele FC supporter’s chairperson, humorously warned the new players to not lose a game against Kaizer Chiefs – given the Soweto giants’ underwhelming league perfor mance over the past decade. Bloem Duo Set to Shine Internationally “Players, there is one team in the PSL that you are not supposed to lose against, that is Kaizer Chiefs, if you lose against them, you won’t get out of the stadium but exercise the whole night,” said Mabena at the Siwelele Homecoming launch at Hoffman Square. The 2025/2026 season promises to be a season to be remembered especially for North West and Free State football enthusiasts following the promotion of Orbit College and the acquisition of SuperSport United’s PSL status by Siwelele FC. The Mswenko Boys promotion into the PSL gave the North West province a team in the topflight since Platinum Stars in the 2017/2018 football season. The Limpopo derby between Polokwane City and Magesi FC will get the league off the mark at the Old Peter Mokaba stadium, while the defending champions, Mamelodi Sundowns will kick off the season away to Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Amazulu will welcome the Orbit Col lege at the Moses Mabhida in Durban, as their Kwazulu-Natal provincial rivals Richards Bay will be hoping to redeem themselves when they go up against Marumo Gallants after their 4-0 ham mering by Sundowns in the MTN 8 last weekend. All the games will kick off at 15:00. Orlando Pirates will welcome Se khukhune United at Orlando Stadium before Siwelele and Golden Arrows wrap up the day with what promises to be a league opening thriller at the Dr Molemela Stadium in Bloemfon tein. The Siwelele supporters are ex pected to paint the match venue in green and white. On Sunday, the two matches will wrap up the opening round weekend f ixtures with TS Galaxy locking horns with NFD champions and PSL debutants Durban City at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit. The other fixture will see Stellenbosch FC welcome reigning Nedbank Cup champions, Kaizer Chiefs, who will be hoping to stage a much better league campaign this season. On Tuesday, Bloemfontein will be abuzz again with football action as Marumo Gallants welcome Orlando Pirates at the Dr Molemela Stadium. The game is expected to produce fireworks as Abdeslam Ouaddou returns to Bloemfontein to face his former employer in Gallants. This fixture will kick off at 19:30.
The Betway Premiership season opener between Stellenbosch FC and Kaizer Chiefs has been relocated to Athlone Stadium, with Chiefs aiming to strengthen their squad to compete with top teams like Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) on Wednesday confirmed a venue change for the Betway Premiership season opener, between hosts Stellenbosch FC and Kaizer Chiefs over the weekend.
The clash on Sunday was initially scheduled to take place at DHL Stadium in Cape Town, but has now been moved inland to Athlone Stadium.
Stellies already began their new campaign as they took part in the MTN8 quarter-final season opener last weekend.
Steve Barker’s men held their nerve for a 3-2 extra time victory over AmaZulu at DHL Stadium.
Chiefs Miss Out on Competition: Failing to Qualify for the Second Consecutive Season
Meanwhile, Chiefs were not involved in the competition as they failed to qualify after finishing outside the top eight in the league for a second season in a row.
Chiefs have also made a number of new signings in Ethan Chislett, Nkanyiso Shinga, Flavio Silva, Thabiso Monyane, Paseka Mako and Siphesihle Ndlovu.
This could be an important step for Chiefs if they seriously want to compete with their Soweto Derby rivals Orlando Pirates and the reigning Betway Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
Former Chiefs forward Justice Sithole said: “You need to have quality players who understand the team if you really want to compete for major trophies.
“I think that at the moment, after the Nedbank Cup final, Chiefs can take it from there and move forward.”
It’s also Nasreddine Nabi’s second season in charge as Chiefs coach, and now that he has settled into the role and clearly has the backing of the club, he has all the ingredients he needs to ‘start cooking’.
Toyota Cheetahs jumped over the angry and aggressive Airlink Pumas when they beat them 42-25 during their Carling Black Label Cup at Toyota Stadium on Friday night.
The first half was action-packed with both teams showing their fighting spirit early on.
The visitors were the first to strike with a try in the 14th minute, taking a narrow 5-0 lead, however, they missed the conversion.
Just three minutes later, the home team responded strongly with a well-worked try in the 17th minute and they made no mistake with the conversion to lead 7-5.
In the 20th minute, the Pumas were awarded a penalty and slotted it in t take the lead again, 8-7. But the Cheetahs came back firing, scoring a try in the 22nd minute and converting it to regain the lead 14-8.
The home side kept the pressure on, adding another converted try in the 28th minute to stretch the score to 21-8.The Pumas managed to come back into the game with a try in the 32nd minute, but once again missed the conversion, bringing the score to 21-13.
The final moment before the halftime, Cheetahs showed their strength once more with another try and successful conversion, ending the half in a strong position.
Halftime score, Toyota Cheetahs 28-13 Airlink Pumas.s
In the second half, Cheetahs continued to take charge of the game and scored the try in the 48th minute, but missed the conversion for the first time in the game; the score was 33-13.
Pumas hit back with a try in the 53rd minute and once again, missed it. A few minutes later, Cheetas got a penalty and extended the lead to 35-18.
The Cheetahs opponents pushed hard to get a try in the 76th minute and convert it, however, the home team bounced back with another try and conversion a minute later. The match ended with the Cheetahs claiming a hard-fought 42-25 victory over the visiting Pumas.
The North West province will be well represented in top flight football in the upcoming new premiership season, after Lerumo Lions - owned by the flambouyant Sibongile Marokana - acquired the status of Motsepe Foundation Championship side Pretoria Callies.
Last season, Lions competed in the North West ABC Motsepe League, finishing second with 89 points, just nine points behind champions, Thames FC.
Prior to the conclusion of the amateur league season, Lions had filed a formal complaint with SAFA, alleging that Thames FC had fielded an ineligible player - namely Isa Mangera. Lions alleged that Mangera joined Thames without completing the required medical documentation, which violates league regulations.
Thames subsequently won the case and went on to play in the ABC Motsepe League National Playoffs, which were ultimately won by Gomora Unted from Alexandra, Johannesburg.
Following Lions’ acquisition of Callies, the North West province will now have two clubs representing the province in top flight football, after Orbit College FC’s promotion into the Betway Premiership.
Following widespread speculation that Marumo Gallants will get relegated after Cape Town City won their arbitration case the had lodged at the South African Football Association (SAFA) on Monday, the Bloemfontein-based outfit merely got a slap on the wrist, with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) handing them a fine.
Gallants were found guilty on charges of fielding an improperly registered player in Monde Mphambaniso by the PSL disciplianry committee (DC), who fined Bahlabane ba Ntwa R200 000, with 50% of the fine suspended for 24 months. This means the 2025/2026 league season will start as scheduled, with Gallants’ PSL status still intact.
In a recorded audio press release, PSL prosecutor Zola Majavu further stated that the DC found Mphambaniso not guilty, while handing City the opprtunity to appeal the outcomes of the case should they feel the need to.
“The PSL DC ruled as follows: one, that Marumo Gallants be fined an amount of R200,000, half of which is immediately payable, and the other half suspended for 24 months, on condition that during the period of suspension they are not found guilty of the same offence again.
“Should they reoffend, that suspended portion would be triggered immediately, and they will be further sanctioned for that subsequent misdemeanour,” said Majavu.
Galants were also ordered to pay for the costs of the sitting.
The Premier Soccer League held its annual awards ceremony on Tuesday evening for the 2024/2025 season. These awards were a grand celebration of South African football excellence.
Mamelodi Sundowns were the first to be awarded for being the best team in Africa and to be able to reach global stages such as the Club World Cup a few weeks back. The Brazilians also won the league again last season for a record-extending eighth consecutive time.
Meanwhile, Elvis Chipezeze from Magezi FC won the Carling Knockout Player of the Tournament, while Relebohile Mofokeng lifted his first trophy of the MTN 8 Last Man Standing.
Here’s a list of all the winners:
PSL Awards:
§Chairman’s Award: Mamelodi Sundowns
§PSL Footballer of the Season: Lucas Ribeiro Costa
§DStv Premiership Coach of the Season: Miguel Cardoso
§DStv Premiership Player’s Player of the Season: Lucas Ribeiro Costa
§DStv Premiership Goalkeeper of the Season: Sipho Chaine
§DStv Premiership Defender of the Season: Nkosinathi Sibisi
§DStv Premiership Midfielder of the Season: Makhehleni Makhaula
§DStv Premiership Young Player of the Season: Relebohile Mofokeng
§DStv Premiership Top Goal Scorer: Lucas Ribeiro
Cup Competitions:
§MTN8 Last Man Standing: Relebohile Mofokeng
§Carling Knockout Player of the Tournament: Elvis Chipezeze
§Nedbank Cup Player of the Tournament: Pule Mmodi
§Nedbank Cup Most Promising Player of the Tournament: Mbekezil Mbokazi
Diski Challenge:
§DStv Diski Challenge Player of the Season: Tylon Smith
§DStv Diski Challenge Top Goal Scorer: Siphamandla Msezane
§MFC Player’s Player of the Season: Muzomuhle Khanyi
