2 Feb 2027
Tuesday
Process
27 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Ajax Cape Town cannot stop winning

4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone

That is the business done at Ajax Cape Town 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.

Market

Ajax Cape Town turn down Bidvest Wits for Teboho Kekana

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Percy Mkhize has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ajax Cape Town they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

Ajax Cape Town make their move for Fiacre Ntwari

$610.0K on the table at Kaizer Chiefs. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Jerome Karelse

Ajax Cape Town asked and Golden Arrows said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ajax Cape Town

Bongani Modiba 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.

Squad

Teboho Jali falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Ajax Cape Town get the job done against Jomo Cosmos

A 1‑0 win over Jomo Cosmos, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

In brief

Back issues
26 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Thulani Hlatshwayo at 18 — 7.94

The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Thulani Hlatshwayo did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Market

Teboho Kekana has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ajax Cape Town they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

Ajax Cape Town cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

A row about effort at Ajax Cape Town

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teboho Jali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ajax Cape Town

Hlompho Modiba 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.

The terraces

Ajax Cape Town supporters have found a favourite in Thulani Hlatshwayo

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Thulani Hlatshwayo 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.

Match

Ajax Cape Town get the job done against Bidvest Wits

A 1‑0 win over Bidvest Wits, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

One of those days for Wandile Duba

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Solly Khunyedi was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 15. 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.

In brief

25 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

OH Leuven come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Ajax Cape Town did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Terms done: Percy Mkhize is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Maritzburg United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ajax Cape Town is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Transfer targets

No deal for Jerome Karelse at that price

Ajax Cape Town offered $1.3M; Golden Arrows said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Dean Kekana

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ajax Cape Town have done the hard part with SuperSport United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Squad

A row about effort at Ajax Cape Town

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teboho Jali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Ajax Cape Town rebuffed over Edward Maova

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bidvest Wits have kept their man, and Ajax Cape Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Cohen Stander 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Solly Khunyedi the difference as Ajax Cape Town beat Bloemfontein Celtic

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Solly Khunyedi. 2‑1 against Bloemfontein Celtic, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

One of those days for Teboho Jali

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

24 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Terms done: Teboho Kekana is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bidvest Wits waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ajax Cape Town is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Percy Mkhize puts it in writing

“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 Ajax Cape Town, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

Ajax Cape Town make their move for Jerome Karelse

$1.3M on the table at Golden Arrows. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Real improvement from Takalani Mazhamba at Ajax Cape Town

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Takalani Mazhamba is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

A falling-out at Ajax Cape Town

Bongani Modiba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Hlompho Modiba signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Hlompho Modiba commits to Ajax Cape Town for another 5 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Ajax Cape Town

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teboho Jali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Bendel Insurance tell Ajax Cape Town: Anthony Cletus is not for sale

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 terraces

Ajax Cape Town supporters have found a favourite in Wandile Duba

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Wandile Duba 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.

In brief

23 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Percy Mphela puts it in writing

“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 Ajax Cape Town, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A move Sfundo Nzama would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Sfundo Nzama is living that version at Ajax Cape Town, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ajax Cape Town

Bongani Modiba 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Ajax Cape Town

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teboho Jali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Young Boys tell Ajax Cape Town: Facinet Conté is not for sale

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Ajax Cape Town against Black Aces

0‑1 to Black Aces, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

S'fiso Hlanti gets it from the manager

“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.

Squad

Sfundo Nzama signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sfundo Nzama and Ajax Cape Town agree another 3 years.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Rivaldo Mokotjo to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

22 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Ajax Cape Town

Bongani Modiba 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.

Squad

Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teboho Jali 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.

Player ratings

Siyabonga Williams was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 17. 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.

Match

Solly Khunyedi rescues a point for Ajax Cape Town

It needed Solly Khunyedi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Free State Stars, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

The dugout

Rivaldo Mokotjo: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Thato Mokeke

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

The dugout

When it matters, Mandla Kekana plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

A door opens for S'fiso Hlanti

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Market

The Siyabonga Williams question follows Ajax Cape Town around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Siyabonga Williams’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

21 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The step up is real for Allesandro Du Plessis

At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Kwenzakwenkosi Mbatha arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kwenzakwenkosi Mbatha has, at Ajax Cape Town, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

Bongani Modiba 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Ajax Cape Town against Maritzburg United

0‑1 to Maritzburg United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Solly Khunyedi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Wandile Duba beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Rivaldo Mokotjo faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Rivaldo Mokotjo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Siphisihle Zitho

“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.

The dugout

S'fiso Hlanti dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

20 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Teboho Kekana has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ajax Cape Town they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Andile Hlatshwayo is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

A falling-out at Ajax Cape Town

Teboho Jali and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Wandile Duba

At 23 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.

Match

Ajax Cape Town see off Platinum Stars

Three points for Ajax Cape Town, 2‑0 the final word against Platinum Stars in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

A row about effort at Ajax Cape Town

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Solly Khunyedi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Wandile Duba at his very best

Marked 8.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ajax Cape Town.

Player ratings

Thulani Hlatshwayo ran the middle of the pitch — 7.06

He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.06, and not one of them will make a highlights package.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Rivaldo Mokotjo kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

In brief

19 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The small margins put Ajax Cape Town out

Out, 1‑1 to Orlando Pirates, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Squad

Domnan Panse wins the shoot-out

1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.

Market

Evidence Furman asks to leave Ajax Cape Town

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

The terraces

Ajax Cape Town supporters have found a favourite in Thulani Hlatshwayo

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Thulani Hlatshwayo 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.

Match

Thulani Hlatshwayo the difference as Ajax Cape Town beat University of Pretoria

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thulani Hlatshwayo. 1‑0 against University of Pretoria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

A row about effort at Ajax Cape Town

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teboho Jali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Siphisihle Zitho 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of S'fiso Hlanti

“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.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 117 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Ajax Cape Town had all but put away. Orlando Pirates will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

In brief

18 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Ajax Cape Town

Cohen Stander 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.

Match

The drought breaks for Ajax Cape Town

5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Chippa United were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Match

Ajax Cape Town see off Chippa United

Three points for Ajax Cape Town, 1‑0 the final word against Chippa United in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

One of those days for Siyabonga Williams

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.50, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

A row about effort at Ajax Cape Town

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Solly Khunyedi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Rivaldo Mokotjo: “That is the standard”

“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 dugout

Ajax Cape Town pick somebody else ahead of S'fiso Hlanti

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

The dugout

Andile Hlatshwayo gets it from the manager

“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.

The dugout

Morgan Mokotjo gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Morgan Mokotjo is on it.

In brief

17 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Siyabonga Williams was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 35. 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.

Match

The wait goes on for Ajax Cape Town

5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

The dugout

Bradley Mothiba keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ajax Cape Town may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

The goals have deserted Ajax Cape Town

5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ajax Cape Town can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Bongani Modiba 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Solly Khunyedi 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 dugout

No hiding place for Takalani Mazhamba

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Takalani Mazhamba, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Rivaldo Mokotjo: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

The dugout

The form table has caught Thato Mokeke

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

In brief

16 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Siyabonga Williams beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 48. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Teboho Kekana is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ajax Cape Town is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Match

4 matches without a win for Ajax Cape Town

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Ajax Cape Town are no longer polite ones.

Match

4 matches without a goal for Ajax Cape Town

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

A falling-out at Ajax Cape Town

Bongani Modiba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Ajax Cape Town come up short against Kaizer Chiefs

Kaizer Chiefs left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Teboho Jali falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Bongani Modiba

“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.

Match

Ajax Cape Town at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 9, 17 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

In brief

15 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

7 saves: Domnan Panse was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Evidence Furman asks to leave Ajax Cape Town

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Match

Ajax Cape Town cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ajax Cape Town

Bongani Modiba 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.

Match

Ajax Cape Town come up short against Mamelodi Sundowns

Mamelodi Sundowns left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Solly Khunyedi 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.

Squad

Thulani Hlatshwayo signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Thulani Hlatshwayo commits to Ajax Cape Town for another 5 years.

The dugout

No hiding place for S'fiso Hlanti

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to S'fiso Hlanti, and the manager let it.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Rivaldo Mokotjo left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

14 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Tempers go at Ajax Cape Town

Teboho 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.

Match

Orlando Pirates take the points off Ajax Cape Town

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Solly Khunyedi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Simphiwe Mtsweni signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simphiwe Mtsweni and Ajax Cape Town agree another 2 years.

The dugout

Rivaldo Mokotjo answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Thulani Hlatshwayo

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Thulani Hlatshwayo has come out of that comparison in the side, and Ajax Cape Town have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

The dugout

Ajax Cape Town pick somebody else ahead of S'fiso Hlanti

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

Looking ahead

Ajax Cape Town take on the side everybody is chasing

Mamelodi Sundowns arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.

Player ratings

Wandile Duba runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

13 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Ajax Cape Town come up short against SuperSport United

SuperSport United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Teboho Jali runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ajax Cape Town

Siphisihle Zitho 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.

Squad

Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teboho Jali 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 dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Rivaldo Mokotjo to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

S'fiso Hlanti dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Squad

Solly Khunyedi named player of the week

One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Solly Khunyedi has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.

Squad

Thulani Hlatshwayo, 17, is the weekend’s best young player

Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Ajax Cape Town would like this to lead.

The dugout

Mandla Kekana gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mandla Kekana is on it.

In brief

12 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Ajax Cape Town run riot against Jomo Cosmos

5‑2, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

A day Solly Khunyedi will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Player ratings

Thulani Hlatshwayo, 17, steals the show — 8.27

Marked 8.27 at 17, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Market

Only the photograph left for Teboho Kekana

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Teboho Kekana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ajax Cape Town the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ajax Cape Town and Jomo Cosmos in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Solly Khunyedi at his very best

Marked 9.34. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ajax Cape Town.

The terraces

One of their own: Wandile Duba

He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Domnan Panse

“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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Siyabonga Williams

Marked 8.41 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

11 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Evidence Furman 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 Ajax Cape Town can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Samkelo Dlamuka says Ajax Cape Town went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Real improvement from Andile Hlatshwayo at Ajax Cape Town

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Andile Hlatshwayo is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Wandile Duba

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ajax Cape Town

Cohen Stander 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.

Squad

Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Solly Khunyedi 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Teboho Jali

Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

Ajax Cape Town caught on 93 minutes

The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Bidvest Wits scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Ajax Cape Town

10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

In brief

10 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

The dugout

Siyabonga Mphela keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ajax Cape Town may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Allesandro Du Plessis is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Tempers go at Ajax Cape Town

Cohen Stander 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.

Match

Ajax Cape Town come up short against Bloemfontein Celtic

Bloemfontein Celtic left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Williams Hlatshwayo signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Williams Hlatshwayo commits to Ajax Cape Town for another 1 years.

Squad

Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teboho Jali 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 dugout

Rivaldo Mokotjo: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

Takalani Mazhamba gets it from the manager

“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.

The dugout

Ajax Cape Town pick somebody else ahead of S'fiso Hlanti

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

In brief

9 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Williams Hlatshwayo: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ajax Cape Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

The step up is real for Takalani Mazhamba

At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Player ratings

Wandile Duba beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Cohen Stander 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Ajax Cape Town against Golden Arrows

0‑1 to Golden Arrows, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Solly Khunyedi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Rivaldo Mokotjo faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Rivaldo Mokotjo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Ajax Cape Town pick somebody else ahead of Takalani Mazhamba

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

The dugout

Takalani Mazhamba knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ajax Cape Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

8 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Ajax Cape Town refuse to lose, and Siyabonga Williams leads them

The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Siyabonga Williams was at the centre of it, Black Aces were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Williams Jali at 17 — 8.31

The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Williams Jali did not need any: 8.31, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Market

Teboho Kekana is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ajax Cape Town is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Match

Ajax Cape Town get the job done against Black Aces

A 3‑2 win over Black Aces, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Siyabonga Williams

At 23 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.

Player ratings

Siyabonga Williams in the eights

A performance of 8.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Teboho Jali was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.27. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

A row about effort at Ajax Cape Town

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Solly Khunyedi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Ajax Cape Town

Bongani Modiba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

7 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Ajax Cape Town through in the cup

A 0‑1 win over Free State Stars, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Match

Ajax Cape Town march on in the cup

Free State Stars are out and Ajax Cape Town go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Player ratings

Erick Kekana could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.39

Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.39, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.

Player ratings

Wandile Duba was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 26. 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.

Player ratings

Williams Hlatshwayo, 34, rolls back the years — 7.87

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Market

Evidence Furman puts it in writing

“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 Ajax Cape Town, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Ajax Cape Town say no — this time

The offer from Maritzburg United for Teboho 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.

Squad

Real improvement from Andile Hlatshwayo at Ajax Cape Town

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Andile Hlatshwayo is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

A falling-out at Ajax Cape Town

Takalani Mazhamba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

6 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Williams Jali 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 Ajax Cape Town can pretend not to have heard.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 14 in, 2 out at Ajax Cape Town

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Boardroom

Ajax Cape Town go back to the board over Donay Jansen

The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $81.0K — a club that wants Donay Jansen enough to be asked twice.

Transfer targets

Domnan Panse due for a Ajax Cape Town medical

Everything agreed with Plateau United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Takalani Mazhamba 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Ajax Cape Town baulk at the price for Donay Jansen

Kaizer Chiefs wanted more than $79.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Nkosikhona Ndaba

Ajax Cape Town asked and Orlando Pirates said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

A bad afternoon for Ajax Cape Town against Maritzburg United

1‑2 to Maritzburg United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

No hiding place for Takalani Mazhamba

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Takalani Mazhamba, and the manager let it.

In brief

  • Squad Solly Khunyedi falls out with a teammate over standards
  • Player ratings One of those days for Wandile Duba
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
5 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

No mercy from Ajax Cape Town

Platinum Stars will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ajax Cape Town were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Market

Percy Mphela asks to leave Ajax Cape Town

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Teboho Kekana has said yes to Maritzburg United

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ajax Cape Town have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Player ratings

Both of them Wandile Duba's — 8.14

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.14, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Thulani Hlatshwayo at 17 — 8.22

The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Thulani Hlatshwayo did not need any: 8.22, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Transfer targets

Ajax Cape Town make their move for Donay Jansen

$78.0K on the table at Kaizer Chiefs. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Teboho 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Facinet Conté

Ajax Cape Town asked and Young Boys said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The terraces

Ajax Cape Town supporters have found a favourite in Thulani Hlatshwayo

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Thulani Hlatshwayo 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.

In brief

4 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Wandile Duba scores twice — 8.09

Two goals and a mark of 8.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Teboho Kekana 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 Ajax Cape Town can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Takalani Mazhamba due for a Ajax Cape Town medical

Everything agreed with Kaizer Chiefs, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teboho Jali 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.

Transfer targets

Tottenham tell Ajax Cape Town: Mason Melia is not for sale

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Ajax Cape Town

Cohen Stander and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Wandile Duba the difference as Ajax Cape Town beat University of Pretoria

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Wandile Duba. 2‑1 against University of Pretoria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

Ajax Cape Town supporters have found a favourite in Wandile Duba

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Wandile Duba 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.

Transfer targets

Ajax Cape Town ask about Nkosikhona Ndaba

A loan enquiry to Orlando Pirates: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

3 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Ajax Cape Town sell their best player to SuperSport United

$1.6M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $1.6M sale of Thamsanqa Zwane

He is going to SuperSport United, the club has $1.6M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Transfer targets

Ajax Cape Town bid $2.8M for Lebogang Dala

The offer went to SuperSport United this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Market

Evidence Furman asks to leave Ajax Cape Town

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ajax Cape Town

Bongani Modiba 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 targets

Too dear: Ajax Cape Town walk away from Tsiki Ntsabeleng

$110.0K was the most the club would pay and Mamelodi Sundowns were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Squad

A row about effort at Ajax Cape Town

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teboho Jali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Nobel Mendy

Ajax Cape Town asked and Hull City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Player ratings

Wandile Duba runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

2 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Ajax Cape Town win it in stoppage time

The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Polokwane City will replay every second of the added time for a week.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Siyabonga Williams

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Wandile Duba arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Wandile Duba has, at Ajax Cape Town, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

Siyabonga Williams signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Siyabonga Williams commits to Ajax Cape Town for another 4 years.

Transfer targets

Ajax Cape Town bid $110.0K for Tsiki Ntsabeleng

The offer went to Mamelodi Sundowns this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

Tempers go at Ajax Cape Town

Thamsanqa Zwane 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.

Market

The Thamsanqa Zwane conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: SuperSport United will make the call about Thamsanqa Zwane this week. Ajax Cape Town have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Ajax Cape Town

5 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.

Transfer targets

Brentford tell Ajax Cape Town: Ethan Laidlaw is not for sale

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.

In brief

1 Edition

The Ajax Cape Town Post

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Thamsanqa Zwane 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 Ajax Cape Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Bidvest Wits watching Keagan Phiri

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Ajax Cape Town have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Words at Ajax Cape Town training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teboho Jali 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.

Transfer targets

Vitoria Guimaraes tell Ajax Cape Town: Patrick Ouotro is not for sale

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.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Samkelo Dlamuka is in the works

Ajax Cape Town have made the call to Golden Arrows. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

Siyabonga Williams knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Siyabonga Williams trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Teboho Kekana told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Teboho Kekana has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Ajax Cape Town.

Market

Experience through the door at Ajax Cape Town

S'fiso Hlanti arrives at 36 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.

Market

Thamsanqa Zwane linked with a move away

The name of Thamsanqa Zwane keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ajax Cape Town say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief