WINNING the Nedbank Cup for Durban City must definitely be an incentive and the beginning of good things for KwaZulu-Natal teams, who play in the Betway Premiership.
That is the opinion of Zola “Mzolisto” Luthuli who is the kit manager of Durban City who are the champions of the 2025/2026 Nedbank Cup season by defeating TS Galaxy 2-1 on Saturday, at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane.
City, which ended the 17-year drought of KwaZulu-Natal teams not winning trophies, ended the 54-year record of being ranked among the teams in this province by Nedbank since it was founded in 1971, and is still called Life Challenge.
“This success of Durban City must definitely be an incentive for the teams in KwaZulu-Natal to do the same as we have done as Durban City by winning this cup.
“We have four teams playing in the Betway Premiership, and two playing in the Motsepe Championship, I have no doubt that all these teams will be motivated to fight for success in their own way,” said Luthuli, who has been with this team for years since it was still called Maritzburg United.
“Actually this season, the teams in KZN are doing well as none of them are avoiding the ax, which we have been known for in previous seasons. That is an indication that we are going somewhere as a province. There are currently three KZN teams fighting to stay in the Top 8, and Richards Bay is also knocking.”
AmaZulu is in fourth place, City is in seventh place, Lamontville Golden Arrows is in eighth place, and Richards Bay FC is in 11th place.
Luthuli (54), originally from Mlaza, has worked as a kit manager for nearly 30 years. Manning was with the Rangers in 1996, winning the league title. He worked for Santos and they won the Bobsave Super Bowl under Clive Barker, and won the league under the leadership of Gordon Igesund.
He said this Nedbank trophy means a lot to him, especially since he has worked at City for nearly 22 years.
“In June, I will be celebrating 30 years of doing this job. But I have been working with Durban City for a long time since I joined it in 2004, from Santos.
So this Nedbank trophy means a lot to me because I fell and got up with it. I was there in the 2006/07 season, we were relegated with Onismor Bhasera and Steve Lekoelea in charge.
I was there and it returned to the Premiership in 2008. I was also there in the 2022/23 season when we were relegated, and we came back again in the last season of 2024/25.
In addition, the Chatsworth site where City is based has become like my home because Manning Rangers, who won the league with me in the 1996/97 season, played home games there,” concluded Luthuli, who was part of the Bafana Bafana team that participated in the World Cup in 2002, in Korea-Japan.