Black Leopards Relegated Again with Namibian Duo

Relegation has a familiar sting for Bethuel Muzeu. The Namibian striker is heading out of the South African National First Division with Black Leopards FC for the second time in as many years – and this time, there is no boardroom lifeline in sight.

Last season, Leopards dropped, then bought the NFD status of Cape Town All Stars to cling onto their place in the Motsepe Foundation Championship. Now, with one game left, the maths has closed in on them. Sunday’s 2-1 win over Venda Football Club brought a flicker of pride, but no escape route.

They sit on 28 points with a single match to play. Survival sits at 32. Even if University of Pretoria stumble in their final fixture, Leopards are already gone.

For Muzeu, it is a harsh ending to another industrious campaign in a struggling side. The 26-year-old has eight league goals this season and has been a steady presence over four years at the club, during which he hit 12 goals in 2024 and 17 in 2025. He started this campaign brightly, carrying much of Leopards’ attacking threat in the first half of the season, only for the goals to dry up as the team’s problems deepened around him.

Another Namibian's Journey

Alongside him, another Namibian sees his season end with a drop. Goalkeeper Loydt Kazapua, 37, joined Leopards at the start of the campaign on a free transfer after leaving Sekhukhune United FC in the Premiership, signing a two-year deal that was supposed to steady the last line of defence.

Instead, he walked into chaos.

Leopards opened the season under a transfer ban that prevented them from registering enough players – including a recognised goalkeeper. The consequences were brutal. They kicked off the campaign with only 10 men, and for the first three matches, defender and captain Thendo Mukumela pulled on the gloves and went in goal.

Kazapua was already at the club by then, but stuck in limbo. Until the ban was lifted, he could not be registered, could not play, could not influence a season that was already spiralling. By the time he finally took his place between the posts and established himself as first choice, Leopards were entrenched in the relegation zone and never truly climbed out.

The instability did not stop there. The technical team changed three times as the club searched for a formula that never quite appeared. Joel Masutha started the season in the dugout but left in November. His replacement, Mabuti Khenyeza, lasted just 10 matches before another reshuffle.

The pressure told on the pitch. Even with Kazapua finally installed as the regular No 1 and Muzeu leading the line, the Limpopo side could not string together the results needed to mount a serious escape. Sunday’s win over Venda carried more frustration than celebration: a reminder of what might have been had they not spent the early weeks of the season firefighting off the field.

Leopards now drop into the Safa ABC Motsepe League, where they will join fellow Limpopo outfit Baroka, who have also been relegated. For a club with top-flight history and a passionate regional following, it marks another painful step backwards.

While the Namibian pair brace for life in a lower division, other countrymen are pushing in the opposite direction in the same league. At Highbury FC, Ndisiro Kamaijanda and Ngero Katua are part of a side sitting sixth, safely in mid-table and looking upward. Cape Town Spurs forward Prins Tjiueza finds himself in the thick of the promotion race, with his team third on the log and level on points with the side in fourth as they chase a play-off place.

Leopards, by contrast, have only pride left to play for. Their final fixture of the season comes against eighth-placed Lerumo Lions on Sunday, 17 May at 15h00.

For Muzeu and Kazapua, that match is no longer about survival. It is about leaving a mark on a bleak campaign – and deciding whether their futures will be written in the ABC Motsepe League, or somewhere far away from a club that has twice dragged them down.