Pirates have been to nine finals in the past and won just one, in 2011, an incredibly poor return for a team that has enjoyed so much success in other knockout competitions.
Remarkably, there have been 11 different clubs that have lifted the trophy in the last 12 editions, with the only double winners being Mamelodi Sundowns (2015 & 2019), and plenty of so-called minnows having joy. Will this be Marumo Gallants’ year?
We look back at past winners of the competition.
ARCADIA SHEPHERDS
Title wins (1): 1982
Arcadia were the very first champions of the competition 41 years ago as they beat Highlands Park 2-0 in a replay after the original final finished 1-1. Vincent Julius and Gerald Julius scored in either half for the Pretoria club.
Title wins (1): 1987
Bush Bucks had a stunning upset of Orlando Pirates in the final, which was played over two legs but still needed a replay in a third game. Pirates won the first match 3-1 in Durban, before Bush Bucks stunned their hosts with a 2-0 success in Orlando. The game went to a third clash and Bush Bucks triumphed 2-1. They had lost the final to Kaizer Chiefs in 1984.
Title wins (1): 1991
The now-defunct Dynamos defeated Giant Blackpool 2-1 in a replay of the 1991 final after the first game finished 2-2. Marks Maponyane was on the scoresheet for Dynamos, while a certain John ‘Shoes’ Moshoeu netted for Blackpool.
Title wins (1): 1992
AmaZulu’s only success came in 1992, which is also the last time they lifted a trophy of any sort. They stunned the much more fancied Kaizer Chiefs 3-1 in the final. The AmaKhosi were the best team in the country by some distance in those days, so it was a major cup upset. This is also the only time Usuthu have reached the final of this competition.
QWAQWA STARS
Title wins (1): 1994
Later known as Free State Stars, the club had the moniker QwaQwa Stars when they lifted the trophy in 1994, beating Hellenic 3-2 in the final. Bunene Ngaduane scored a brace and Meshack Tsotetsi netted in the first minute of extra-time to seal victory.
ORLANDO PIRATES
Title wins (1): 2011
Pirates have been cursed in this competition, reaching nine finals in the past but registering just a single victory. That came in 2011 when they beat BidVest Wits 3-1 to finally lift the trophy after so much heartache. Eight final losses out of nine is a horrendous record for the proud Soweto club.
BLOEMFONTEIN CELTIC
Title wins (1): 2012
Celtic stunned Mamelodi Sundowns with a 1-0 win in the 2012 decider as Botswana international Joel Mogorosi scored the only goal, though there was some dispute over whether the ball crossed the line. This was the game that saw the sacking of Dutch coach Johan Neeskens and heralded the start of the Pitso Mosimane era at Chloorkop.
Title wins (1): 2014
SuperSport have been to four finals but only won one, a thrilling 3-2 success against Platinum Stars in one of the best cup deciders ever seen in South African football. Matsatsantsa lost finals in 2004, 2005 and 2016.
Title wins (1): 2016
City had only been in existence a matter of months when they lifted the trophy, beating SuperSport United 2-1 in the final. That was achieved under current coach Eric Tinkler, who moved to SuperSport at the end of the season.
Title wins (1): 2018
Baroka claimed an almighty scalp when they defeated Orlando Pirates on penalties to lift the trophy in 2018. The game finished 2-2 after extra-time and it was the Limpopo club – now in the second tier – who held their nerve in the shoot-out.
Title wins (1): 2023
Stellenbosch claimed a first piece of major silverware when they edged TS Galaxy on penalties in the final of the newly rebranded Carling Knockout in the 2023/24 season. An appearance in the MTN8 final in 2024 showed they are a club on the rise.
Title wins (1): 2024
One of the greatest upsets in South African cup history as Magesi defeated Sundowns 2-1 in the 2024 final, despite going a goal down in the first half. The plucky Limpopo club fought back in the second half and Delano Abrahams’ winner three minutes from the end proved decisive.
UMTATA BUSH BUCKS
Title wins (2): 1993, 1996
The Eastern Cape side lifted the trophy twice in four seasons during their heyday in the early 1990s. They defeated Santos in the 1993 final before a 1-0 victory over QwaQwa Stars four years later in a replay after the first game finished 1-1. William Mugeyi got the only goal of the second match.
AJAX CAPE TOWN
Title wins (2): 2000, 2008
Now known as Cape Town Spurs, the club still had their relationship with Ajax Amsterdam when they lifted the trophy on two occasions. They stunned Orlando Pirates 4-1 in a replay of the 2000 final after the first game finished 1-1. They defeated the Buccaneers again in 2008, this time by a 2-1 margin as Mabhuti Khenyeza netted a brace inside 16 minutes. Ajax also lost finals in 2006 and 2009.
Title wins (2): 2002, 2005
Cosmos were champions twice in four years as they edged Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 in the 2002 decider, having been beaten 5-0 in the final the year before by the same opponents. They followed that up with a penalty shoot-out win over SuperSport United in 2005 after a 1-1 draw.
Title wins (2): 2006, 2013
The club were known as Silver Stars when they lifted the trophy for the first time, beating Ajax Cape Town 3-1 in the final as Simba Marumo scored a hattrick. They repeated that feat seven years later with a shock 2-1 win over Pirates, which came months after they had also lifted the MTN8. Stars made finals in 2003 (lost to Kaizer Chiefs) and 2013 (lost to SuperSport United).
Title wins (3): 1985, 1995, 2017
The club was simply Wits University when they won their first two titles, beating Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 in a replay after the first two legs of the final finished 2-2 on aggregate. A decade later they repeated the feat with a 1-0 win over Orlando Pirates, but they had to wait 22 years for their next triumph as they claimed a 1-0 success over Bloemfontein Celtic in 2017.
MAMELODI SUNDOWNS
Title wins (4): 1990, 1999, 2015, 2019
Sundowns have reached nine finals in the past but have a 44% win record with four triumphs. Their first was a 2-1 aggregate win over Orlando Pirates in 1990, before they defeated Free State Stars 2-0 in 1999. Their next win came in 2015 when they outclassed Kaizer Chiefs 3-1, and they claimed a 2-1 success over Maritzburg United in 2019.
KAIZER CHIEFS
Title wins (13): 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010
Far and away the most successful side in the history of the competition with 13 victories, more than three times as many as the next best, though their last triumph came back in 2010. Much of their good work was done early on as they claimed five of the first eight competitions played, added two more in the 1990s, and swept up six titles between 2001 and 2010. They have not won it since.
