Orlando Pirates are not contenders in this title race — they are pretenders dressed in black and white, clinging to the illusion of a challenge while Mamelodi Sundowns methodically reduce the Betway Premiership to a one-club dynasty.
Let’s cut through the noise of Buccaneers optimism. Yes, Relebohile Mofokeng’s nomination in the Footballer of the Season top three is a genuine achievement for a 20-year-old who glides past defenders like they’re training cones. But one rising star does not a title charge make. The cold arithmetic says Sundowns have widened the gap to double digits in points, and that’s before you account for the psychological stranglehold — the Brazilians have lost exactly two league matches since November 2023. Meanwhile, Pirates’ 14-year wait for a league crown isn’t a curse; it’s a verdict on institutional inconsistency. José Riveiro’s side can beat Kaizer Chiefs on a Tuesday night and then drop points against a relegation battler like Cape Town Spurs the following Saturday. That is not championship metal. That is a team that wins cups — the MTN8, the Nedbank Cup — but cannot sustain the grinding, weekly dominance required to topple a machine like Sundowns. The “what-if” season is already here: What if Monnapule Saleng had stayed fit? What if the defence hadn’t conceded that soft equalizer against Richards Bay? What-ifs are the currency of pretenders.
Former Kaizer Chiefs defender Daniel Cardoso recently claimed the league shows bias toward Pirates — referring to perceived favorable refereeing decisions and media coverage. Even if that were true — and the data on officiating errors is murky at best — it only underscores the deeper problem. A club that receives marginal advantages and still cannot close a double-digit gap isn’t being robbed; it’s being exposed. The real story isn’t the referees; it’s that Sundowns’ recruitment machine — signing talent like Lucas Ribeiro, Tashreeq Matthews, and the evergreen Themba Zwane — operates on a different economic and scouting plane. Pirates’ own transfer business, from Evidence Makgopa’s inconsistency to the misfire of Kermit Erasmus, has failed to build a squad capable of a 30-game assault. Mofokeng is special, yes. But Riveiro’s system too often relies on individual brilliance rather than tactical flexibility, and that cracks under Sundowns’ relentless pressure.
Here is the verdict: The 2024-25 title is already embalmed in Chloorkop. Pirates are chasing shadows — and the shadow is a decade-and-a-half old. Until the club restructures its recruitment around sustainable depth rather than cup-heroics, upgrades its midfield spine, and learns to win on a Tuesday in Polokwane when Mofokeng has an off night, the 14-year drought will become a generation’s scar