Proud Durban City coach Pitsp Dladla salutes history-makers ahead of African safari

Durban City brilliantly capped off their debut top-flight season with a coveted Top 8 finish after getting a massive slice of luck on Saturday — despite suffering a narrow 1–0 defeat to AmaZulu in their final league match of the campaign at the Chatsworth Stadium.

Stellenbosch United completely failed to seize their late-season gift, which had arrived as a direct result of a recent, exhausting slump on the part of Durban. A daunting nine games without a victory is how Durban ultimately concluded their domestic season, but they were incredibly fortunate that the chasing competition were simply not in the mood for snatching up final-day presents.

As a direct result of their season-long consistency, Durban City remarkably get to compete in the Nedbank Cup, the MTN8, and the prestigious CAF Confederation Cup next season. It represents a massive, highly demanding ask for a brand-new franchise — but the club’s hierarchy seem entirely up for the challenge.

Head coach Pitso Dladla had a distinct glint of pride in his eye after the final whistle — even though his evolving team had just endured another difficult local derby result. Dladla firmly believes that the business end of the season — particularly as they successfully approached the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup — became exceptionally difficult to manage in terms of acute player fatigue.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄 🏆🏆🏆

Orlando Pirates are 2025/26 #BetwayPrem Champions 🇿🇦☠️#SSDiski pic.twitter.com/VmiPUxwAvm

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“I thought we played a genuinely good game today even though we ultimately lost. It was not necessarily about the solitary result today; this afternoon was about honoring the entire season,” Dladla stated during his post-match press conference. “For us to have finished inside the Top-Eight is absolutely huge for this team. We obviously know the tactical areas we need to work on — not just from this game, but across the entire season.

“After we won that high-stakes semi-final against Casric Stars, we ended up having to navigate four intense league games before the actual final. It was a massive psychological challenge to prepare for those matches because every single player naturally wanted to preserve themselves to ensure they started in the final. We played that grueling Cup final on the Saturday, and then immediately left for Bloemfontein to play Siwelele, and from there we immediately played Stellenbosch.

“So the severe congestion of the domestic fixtures affected our rhythm a little bit, but the structural set-up this time around was a little bit different because of the winter World Cup schedule. Normally we play the major cup final after the league season is completely wrapped up, so we had to dynamically deal with the situation — but it was an undeniable challenge for us as a squad,” Dladla added.

As challenging as this introductory top-flight campaign undoubtedly was for the Blues, next season is tracking to be twice, if not three times, as difficult as they prepare to jet off across the African continent.

Jehran Naidoo is sports reporter for Independent Media and social media coordinator of the our YouTube channel The Clutch.