BESIDES the fact that Durban City reaching the finals of the Nedbank Cup is something that most observers and football lovers in South Africa could not imagine since it is their first season in the Betway Premiership division, it may be a milestone even for their coach, Pitso Dladla.
Dladla (47), who is still acting coach at City, will remain on the bench as the head coach as they face TS Galaxy in the final of the Nedbank Cup today at 6 pm, at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane.
This coach was arrested at the beginning of February after the dismissal of Sinethemba Badela. He is on the verge of becoming the coach of KwaZulu-Natal who will end the 16-year drought of trophies for the teams in this province.
He is also in a position to record his own history by being the first coach of this team from Durban to win the cup in the Premiership.
“We are not worried about our three games in which we did not do well before this final game that we will play against TS Galaxy. “A playoff game is different from a league game, so we will approach the final game in a different way,” said Dladla.
In the four Premiership games before the Premiership final, Citizens lost to Mamelodi Sundowns, Lamontville Golden Arrows and Magesi FC, before drawing 1-1 with Orbit College.
“Our reaching where we are now (in the finals) is not only for me, but because of the cooperation of our coaching team, which includes Ashraf Hendricks and Rowen Fernandez.
For us, this final is bigger than the team because we are not only representing Durban City, but we are representing the city of Thekwini and the entire province of KwaZulu-Natal.
The support we get from the Department of Sports in the province led by Mntomuhle Khawula, is a great encouragement to us as he has promised to take out buses to carry the fans who will support us and make the Peter Mokaba Stadium look like our home stadium Chatsworth Stadium.”
Dladla, who hails from Hambanathi, Tongathi, is one of the coaches who have coached in all levels of football in the South, from the league to the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
In the 2016/17 season he coached with Ronnie Gabriel as Thongathi FC won the Safa ABC Motsepe League national title and was promoted to the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
After four seasons coaching in the Motsepe Championship division, in the 2021/22 season he won the league title with Richards Bay FC, who works with Gabriel.
Last season he was in the Citizens coaching team when they won the Motsepe Championship under Simo Dladla.
Although he is an assistant coach in this team, he understands it better since he has been in this team for three seasons. This puts him in a good position to win the title, he made history as the first coach from KwaZulu-Natal to win the Nedbank Cup, a trophy that has not been won by a team from this province since 1971, the competition is still called the Life Challenge Cup.
City, who moved to Durban in the last season of 2024/25, have reached the Nedbank final in the 2017/18 season, still known as Maritzburg United, and were defeated in the final 1-0 by Free State Stars.
Galaxy and the chance of another history
KwaNdebele Galaxy, Mpumalanga, made history in the 2018/19 season by becoming the first team playing in the National First Division (Motsepe Championship) to win the Nedbank Cup by defeating Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 in the final. There is a chance for another history in today’s finals.
This team is going to the finals led by Bernard Parker as an assistant coach, following the direction of Adnan Beganovic who has not won and reported a game in the last 11.
However, as it is known that the playoffs and finals usually throw the league form out of the window, it is not surprising that the red dog of this team woke up.
Parker, who made a name for himself as a striker with a burning horn in the Chiefs a few years ago, is also in a position to record his own history with his first title as a coach if The Rockets lift Nedbank.
He has made it clear that he has not included full-time employment in his mind but is focused on the task he is currently given to lead the team.
“I haven’t thought about that yet. My job is to make sure that I do the job I’ve been given to make sure that I do it as best as possible to instill the spirit of striving for success in the players. Anything is possible in the finals,” said Parker who won the Nedbank Cup while playing for Chiefs.
“As a young coach, I am learning every day. I still have a long way to go in this coaching role. So there is no need to rush, the most important thing is to use the opportunity that has been given to me.”