Orlando Pirates last success in the Nedbank Cup was in 2014 when Kermit Erasmus scored a double and Sifiso Myeni added the other in a come-from-behind win over Bidvest Wits at the Moses Mabhida Stadium
Pirates made up for their bitter disappointment the year before by claiming the Cup in 2014 by beating Wits 3-1 in the final. It was a third final in succession for Gavin Hunt, who had joined Wits from SuperSport at the start of the season and Jabulani Shongwe had given his side the lead, but the Buccaneers turned it around after halftime to win.
What has happened since to that winning side of nine years ago? SuperSport.com investigates
Senzo Meyiwa: Goalkeeper was murdered in a shooting in Vosloorus just months after the Nedbank Cup success and the trial of five accused of his killing is on-going in Johannesburg, with no one yet fond guilty of the crime. His death was a major blow to the Pirates’ family, who lost a charismatic figure.
Thabo Matlaba: Still playing at the age of 35, Matlaba started 25 games and scored one goal for Royal AM this past season, and has now made more than 350 league and cup starts in his topflight career. He left Pirates in 2019 for Black Leopards, before moving to Swallows and then the rich KwaZulu-Natal outfit.
Happy Jele: After 402 starts for the Buccaneers, their long-standing skipper was let go at the end of last season and was in limbo for six months before being picked up by Royal AM. But injury meant he made only four appearances for his new club this campaign, including against Pirates at the Orlando Stadium, and at the age of 36 his future is now up in the air.
Rooi Mahamutsa: The steely defender was still in action at the age of 40 in the National First Division in the 2020-21 season with TS Sporting, joining up with another ex-Buccaneer in coach Benson Mhlongo, but they were relegated. Late last year, he insisted he was still looking for a club to continue his professional career and then went to join Sifiso Myeni in Botswana
Lucky Lekgwathi: The captain of the team never played again after the cup success in 2014 although it took two years before, at the age of 40, he finally conceded his career was over and formally retired. He opened a restaurant in Soweto, later looted and destroyed during the July 2021 vandalism in the township, but has since reopened it.
Thandani Ntshumaleyo: Two seasons after helping Pirates win the cup, Ntshumaleyo was caught in a drugs test and banned for four years. He was out of the game and struggling to make ends meet before returning in 2019 and joining Baroka. But he played only one game there and after a further season in the wilderness tried his luck at Swallows, where he made two substitute appearances before being released.
Oupa Manyisa: Manyisa held out for move to Mamelodi Sundowns in 2016, but quickly went from being a regular at Pirates to a bit part payer at the Brazilians after his first season at the new club. His career then spiralled downhill with stints at Chippa United and Platinum City Rovers failing to restore his reputation.
Daine Klate: Klate left Pirates six months after the 2014 cup success for a brief sojourn with SuperSport United and then teamed up with his old coach Gavin Hunt at Bidvest Wits where he had more cup success. Once he hung up his boots, Klate turned to coaching and was in charge of Chippa United’s DStv Diski Challenge side before being promoted at the start of the season to take the first team. But he was fired after seven games.
Sifiso Myeni: At the age of 34, Myeni is still playing in Botswana for VTM FC, having been on the books of SuperSport, Wits and TS Sporting after he left Pirates in2016. He joined VTM, a new club, as they bid for promotion and by the end of the season had played a major part in the club gaining a place in the top flight of Botswana football next campaign.
Mpho Makola: Makola, 37, had spent the last three-and-a-half seasons as an impact player at Cape Town City but was culled in mid-season and then later joined Polokwane City for their successful promotion bid. After joining from Free State Stars, Makola spent seven seasons with the Buccaneers with the 2014 Nedbank Cup success his only winners’ medal.
Kermit Erasmus: The ex-Bafana Bafana striker has come full circle from his heroics in the 2014 final and lines up on Saturday again for the Buccaneers, looking to add to his impressive tally of Nedbank Cup medals. Between his stints with Pirates, he went to French cub Stade Rennes, Cape Town City and Mamelodi Sundowns, who last season let him go on a free transfer to Pirates, where he has quickly fitted back in.
Coach:
Vladimir Vermezovic left Pirates six months after the Nedbank Cup success, amid the trauma at the that followed the death of Meyiwa. His career has stagnated with only two jobs since in Montenegro and Saudi Arabia. Vermezovic will be 60 next month.