What is Soweto Derby?
By Sports Writer
According to Wikipedia, Soweto Derby is a football rivalry between Premier Soccer League's Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates in South Africa. It was first contested on 24 January 1970.Matches between the two rivals attract a large fanbase.
Based in Soweto, Johannesburg, the rivalry stems from the fact that Kaizer Chiefs was formed by a former Orlando Pirates star Kaizer Motaung. Motaung had left Orlando Pirates to go play professional soccer in the now defunct North American Soccer League for a team called the Atlanta Chiefs. Upon returning home, he found a lot of infighting among the hierarchy at Pirates. He decided to form a Kaizer XI, which initially played friendly matches with various clubs in South Africa and then this entity evolved to the Kaizer Chiefs.
In an interview with Soccer Laduma, Tefu Mashamaite, former Kaiser Chiefs Player, said any match between the Buccaneers and Amakhosi has its own
prestige, whether being a cup final or a friendly, due to the long history between the two Soweto giants.
“Whether it’s the league or a cup final, it does hold some value, I mean its Chiefs vs. Pirates, and there is history in the rivalry, so it has its
own prestige,” Mashamaite said.
“I remember all the times we played in the Carling Cup, the stadium was always packed so that was a sign that supporters took it
seriously, so who are we to say that we can treat it as a pre-season tournament? We also had to come to the party in terms of our preparation and approach for the game on the day.”
Former Orlando Pirates midfield maestro, Benedict “Tso” Vilakazi, shares his most memorable Soweto Derby moment, which is the Ellis Park disaster.
“There are so many moments but the one I will never forget is when I scored that equalising goal at Ellis Park and people went on to lose their lives,” he said.
The Ellis Park tragedy occurred on 11 April 2001, when an overcrowded stadium led to the death of 43 people via a stampede in what’s been regarded as the worst sporting accident to ever occur in South Africa.
“It makes me emotional and it holds a special place in my heart. Playing in front of a packed stadium; the passionate supporters and watching how happy they were after I had scored, not knowing disaster was going to strike,” Vilakazi told Soccer Laduma.
The former Bucs man still holds the record for most goals scored in the colours of Ezika Magebhula, having netted 58 times in 170 appearances.
According to Premier Soccer League website, Kaiser Chiefs will welcome Orlando Pirates, on the 6 th November 2021, at FNB Stadium, time; 03:00 pm.