By Prudence Mathenjwa | 6 May 2025
Fans were left frustrated and disappointed as they were unable to buy tickets for the Soweto derby match after having stood and waited in long queues on Monday morning.
The tickets have been sold out ahead of the Nedbank Cup final between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates at the Moses Mabhida stadium on Saturday (10 May 2025).
Long queues were formed at Shoprite, Checkers and Usave stores nationwide as fans stood in line waiting to get a chance to buy a general admission ticket sold at a R150. Each person was limited to only purchasing a maximum of four tickets for the Soweto derby match.
As fans battled to purchase tickets at stores and on online platforms such as Computicket and Openticket, systems kept on breaking down due to the high demand for the match tickets making people wait in queues for hours.
“I have been standing on a queue at Shoprite since 9 am this morning, only to be told at 12 pm that the system has crashed and we cannot get tickets,” said Chairmaine Tembe, a fan.
Shoprite staff expressed that they were unable to provide tickets to fans since morning because their system kept on crashing, causing them to fail in providing service for their customers to buy tickets.
Some fans took to online platforms as alternatives to get the tickets, however they still faced similar issues of long queues and failing systems resulting to disappointments. Some were lucky to be able to purchase tickets, however some faced issues and were unable to purchase their tickets.
“I kept on waiting on a long queue and when I did get to buy my ticket the system crashed after I had just clicked ‘pay’, and I was so frustrated as I had to wait to retry but I still could not get a ticket,” said Ngazibini Mdokwe.
Some of the fans who were able to get more tickets have taken advantage of the situation turning into business opportunities and are selling them three times the actual price.
“A colleague of mine has offered to sell the ticket to me at R350 each, so, I will be buying it for myself and my boyfriend,” said Mdokwe.
Despite these challenges fans are determined to watch the Soweto giants’ face-off on the Saturday match to witness who will be lifting the Nedbank cup.
Orlando Pirates fans are confident in having another win and lifting yet another trophy in these three-year consecutive matches, while Kazier Chiefs fans are seeking to redeem themselves over their losses and to end 10-year dry spell.
“We are going to bury them yet again, we are the Bucs and are the number one winners in the country,” said Orlando Pirate fan, Siyanda Phiri.
On the other hand, Kaizer Chief fan, Bhekani Sompisi said “We are not scared of Pirates, we are definitely going to get our revenge this time around and we will be the ones to raise that cup on Saturday.”
The match will be broadcasted live by Supersport and SABC Sport.
