Marked for Bradley Kekana
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Teboho Dala, 20, steals the show — 8.10
Marked 8.10 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Oct 2026
He is 20, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Black Aces
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dean Jali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Teboho Dala’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Black Aces.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Chances created: 12. The column nobody reads carried the whole story of the match, and his name was at the top of it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Lebogang Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Teboho Williams
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑5 by Kaizer Chiefs, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Bradley Kekana at 21 — 7.68
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Bradley Kekana did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market19 Oct 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dean Jali and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Black Aces and Kaizer Chiefs, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gift Mokotjo, and the manager let it.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Black Aces dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Bradley Kekana had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad7 Sep 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Teboho Dala has come up in conversations Black Aces were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Black Aces until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Dean Jali was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Kermit Modiba has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Teboho Williams, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market31 Aug 2026
Gift Mabunda hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Black Aces can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Black Aces have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Dean Jali in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teboho Dala is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Polokwane City, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Gift Kekana at his very best
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Black Aces.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Sifiso Mokoena could afford to be generous.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑4 by SuperSport United, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$1.6M settles it between the clubs for Teboho Zwane
Free State Stars have accepted the money. What Black Aces do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer from MC El Bayadh for Bradley Kekana was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Teboho Dala, 20, steals the show — 7.89
Marked 7.89 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Black Aces have gone to Polokwane City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Dean Jali and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
No hiding place for Dean Jali
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dean Jali, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Black Aces dressing room in a hurry
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
The formation has left Siphesihle Msomi behind
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
What a way to start for Teboho Dala — 8.87
2 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 8.87 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Market10 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: MC El Bayadh have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bradley Kekana. The answer from Black Aces has not changed — yet.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kermit Modiba and Black Aces agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Dean Jali in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teboho Dala is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
The crowd has taken to Teboho Dala
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Siyabonga Mahlangu has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.