Kaizer Chiefs’ high hopes of riding resurgent wave to more silverware

Following the team’s best Premiership start in six years, there is an air of optimism hovering above Naturena Village – a hope that after years of toil, Kaizer Chiefs have finally turned a corner.

It’s been a torturous decade for Chiefs, who went without any major silverware during that period. They eventually snapped the trophy drought dating back to 2015 by beating bitter rivals Orlando Pirates 2-1 in the Nedbank Cup final in May 2025. 

Ride the momentum

That drought-ending success has seemingly fuelled a steady resurgence by Amakhosi. After five league matches, Chiefs have won four and drawn one. They are yet to concede a goal. At the same juncture of the 2024/25 campaign, they had already conceded six times on the way to finishing ninth on the log. 

It’s a promising start to the season for one of Africa’s most influential clubs, aimless during their decade of woe and sorrow. 

Chiefs’ marketing director Jessica Motaung believes their Nedbank Cup success has inspired the positive start to the season.         

“The floodgates are open now. You can see how the team has started. The energy is different, the mood is different – not just with the players, but the supporters,” Motaung told journalists. 

Motaung was speaking on the sidelines of a Chiefs and Nedbank event in Springs, Ekurhuleni, on Wednesday, 3 September — the handing over at Phulong Secondary School of a multipurpose sports court. This is part of a decade-long tradition by Nedbank each season, alongside the winners of the Cup. 

Smart business

Amakhosi made shrewd acquisitions during the Premier Soccer League (PSL) transfer window. This includes roping in former Pirates pair Paseka Mako and Thabiso Monyane, who were released by the Buccaneers in June. 

Whereas last season the Chiefs seemed to rely too heavily on their youngsters for success, there appears to be a healthy balance in the current crop. Players such as Mako and Monyane bring with them invaluable experience, having just left a serial-winning dressing room.

Amakhosi have also recruited two talented youngsters in Luke Baartman and Asanele Velebayi. The pair joined as free agents after their team, Cape Town Spurs, were relegated to the third tier of South African soccer.        

As a result of Spurs’ relegation, Baartman and Velebayi’s representatives argue that the players are free agents – the professional contracts they had are nullified on the basis that Spurs are an amateur club by virtue of now competing in the third tier. 

The club, however, maintains that the contracts remain valid, adding that it deserves compensation for developing the players. Nonetheless, the PSL dispute resolution chamber ruled in favour of the players recently. 

Spurs have appealed against that verdict at the South African Football Association’s arbitration tribunal and are hoping to have it overturned. While they wait for that legal outcome, Chiefs have chosen not to field the pair. Motaung said their time would come.  

“It’s important to allow the technical team to integrate [the newcomers]. But we’re excited about the new players who we’ve acquired, and we look forward to that depth being actualised by the team,” said Motaung. 

“The club is committed to ensuring that we have the best players, whoever the coach may be. We are here to build a team that’s going to last. Obviously, the coach (Nasreddine Nabi) is here to do his job. We’re giving him the tools to do the job and we expect him to deliver,” said Amakhosi’s marketing boss.

Father’s footsteps 

While newcomers such as Mako and Monyane have already slotted seamlessly into the team, Chiefs’ homegrown younger players have also starred. One of those is centre-back Aden McCarthy.

The 21-year-old, son of former Chiefs and Bafana Bafana defender Fabian McCarthy, earned two player of the match awards in his first two starts this season. 

An injury in his third league outing against Richards Bay has been a setback for the Amakhosi development product. Nevertheless, he is adamant about bouncing back and reclaiming his starting berth in the high-flying Chiefs team.      

“It motivates me to continue doing what I can do on the field. It’s showing everyone what I’m capable of. I believe in myself and the coaches believe in me too. I’m happy to achieve the awards, but I’ll never let it get to my head,” McCarthy said.

Premiership dreaming  

Chiefs’ solid start to the season has also amplified the voices of their supporters; not that they are ever hushed. Win or lose, the Amakhosi faithful back their team.

Hence, Chiefs’ players are out to ensure that they provide their followers with more joy after last season’s memorable Cup success. 

“We always start the season wanting to win the league, but this season we’ve started very well. There’s high hopes and we believe in ourselves more this season compared to other seasons,” said Chiefs’ young striker Wandile Duba.  

Duba’s fellow academy graduate McCarthy is more cautious. The defender noted that it is still fairly early in the season to speak about the Soweto side winning the league for the first time since 2015. 

“It (talk about Chiefs winning the league) can be the air that’s going around, but are we breathing it in? Or are we breathing oxygen?” asked McCarthy coyly. “We are breathing in the three points, game by game. The season is long and [we have multiple competitions].”

From those multiple competitions, Chiefs winning just one would be another step in the right direction. Two trophies in two seasons sounds much better than zero trophies in 10 years. 

As for the league? Many still place Mamelodi Sundowns and Pirates in the favourites’ seat. It is up to the constantly improving Chiefs team to prove them wrong. DM