Motsepe Foundation Championship — Round 29 | 10 May 2026
A 2-1 Vhembe Derby win over Venda Football Academy gave Black Leopards a measure of pride on a difficult afternoon, but the result was not enough to prevent Lidoda Duvha from being relegated to the ABC Motsepe League — a second drop to amateur football in three years.
A derby win that could not change the table
There was nothing wrong with the performance. Black Leopards arrived in Thohoyandou determined to make the Vhembe Derby count for something and produced the kind of edge-of-the-seat afternoon that has defined the fixture over the years. The 2-1 scoreline went the home side’s way, and on a different day in a different season the three points would have meant something for the league position. On this day, with results elsewhere going against them, the win was a footnote — a derby trophy that nobody at the club had wanted to win in this context.
Relegation confirmed for a second time in three years
Black Leopards finish the Motsepe Foundation Championship season second from bottom and head back to the ABC Motsepe League — the second relegation to amateur football for a club that lifted itself out of the third tier only a couple of years ago. The recurring nature of the slide is the bit that hurts. Lidoda Duvha have been a PSL fixture across most of the last two decades, and the trajectory of the past three seasons has put a question mark over a club whose name should be one of the constants of South African football.
The road from Thohoyandou
The off-season conversations at Leopards will be heavy: ownership, structure, coaching, recruitment, and the long climb back through the Limpopo regional leagues. The supporters’ patience is not in doubt — Vhembe has stood behind the club through every previous reset — but the club’s leadership knows that another quick bounce back will be expected. The Vhembe Derby win is a foundation of sorts. Now the rebuild has to start matching it.
