Siwelele FC were held to a 1-1 draw by Richards Bay in the Betway Premiership match played at the Umhlathuze Stadium on Friday night.
The draw saw Siwelele move up to the 10th spot in the league standings, a point behind ninth-placed Richards Bay.
Coach Lehlohonolo Seema and his charges will now turn their attention to their next game which is the Nedbank Cup Round of 32 match against Bay in the first week of February.
The Natal Rich Boys, on the other hand, remained ninth in the standings, four points behind eighth-placed Durban City.
Co-coaches Ronnie Gabriel and Papi Zothwane will start preparations for their KwaZulu-Natal Derby clash which is against Lamontville Golden Arrows on January 30.
Richards Bay and Siwelele start their 2026 with a point apiece 🤝#BetwayPrem | #SSDiski pic.twitter.com/M4OGPcJMd9
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) January 23, 2026
It was a dream return to the South African top-flight for Kgaogelo Sekgota as the former Kaizer Chiefs and Stellenbosch FC winger hit the back of the net within the first minute of the match to hand Siwelele a 1-0 lead - making it one of the earliest and fastest goals in the Betway Premiership this season.
However, the Natal Rich Boys exerted pressure on Siwelele after conceding with Lundi Mahala hitting the post in the ninth minute.
Parity was restored in first-half stoppage time when Moses Mthembu converted a penalty after Mahala had been fouled in the box and the score was 1-1 at the interval.
The second half saw Siwelele push for their second goal of the match and goalkeeper Ian Otieno had to make a decent save to deny Vincent Pule in the 72nd minute, before Chibuike Ohizu missed a sitter from close range a minute later as pressure mounted on the Richards Bay defence.
Otieno was determined not to concede again as the Kenya international produced fine saves to deny Christian Saile, Ohizu and Enoch Quaicoe in the final 10 minutes of the match to ensure that Richards Bay picked up a point following a 1-1 draw against Siwelele, who were left to rue not taking their chances on the night.
Richards (1) 1 (Mthembu 45'+1)
Siwelele (1) 1 (Sekgota 1')
Richards Bay: Otieno, Zuke, Mabuya, Zulu, Mntungwa, Zikhali (Nzama 69'), Mthembu, Mthethwa, Ngema, Mutizwa, Mahala (Gumede 76')
Siwelele: Goss, Rapoo (Baliti 79'), Sanoka, Khonyane, Mfolozi, Margeman, Lungu (Quaicoe 79'), Moralo (Mokhuoane 54'), Sekgota (Saile 68'), Pule, Lepasa (Ohizu 54')