Black Leopards Relegated Again – The Impact on Namibian Players

Relegation has become a grim, familiar word for Black Leopards – and for Namibian striker Bethuel Muzeu, it now carries a bitter echo.

The Limpopo club’s drop from the South African National First Division (Motsepe Foundation Championship) was confirmed on Sunday, despite a 2-1 win over Venda Football Club that briefly hinted at a late escape. The victory nudged Leopards up to 28 points with one game left, but the maths is merciless: they cannot reach the 32-point mark needed to survive, even if University of Pretoria lose their final fixture.

For Muzeu and fellow Namibian international Loydt Kazapua, the blow cuts deep.

Muzeu’s goals, Leopards’ chaos

This is Muzeu’s second relegation with Leopards in the NFD. The first came in 2023, only for the club to buy the NFD status of Cape Town All Stars and cling to their place in the division. The reset never truly arrived.

Through the turbulence, the 26-year-old forward kept scoring. He sits on eight league goals this season, part of a productive spell that saw him hit 12 goals in 2024 and 17 in 2025, now into his fourth season with the club. He began this campaign sharply, carrying much of Leopards’ attacking threat in the first half of the season.

Then the goals slowed. As his form dipped, so did Leopards’ already fragile hopes of survival.

The problem, though, ran far deeper than one man’s finishing.

Transfer ban, no goalkeeper, and a season sabotaged

Leopards started the season crippled by a transfer ban. They could not register enough players. Not even a goalkeeper.

The opening weeks bordered on farce. In their first match, they lined up with only 10 men. For the first three games of the campaign, defender and captain Thendo Mukumela pulled on the gloves and stood in goal, a symbol of a club trying to patch holes in a sinking ship.

Kazapua, 37, had already joined on a free transfer at the start of the season after leaving Sekhukhune United in the Premiership, signing a two-year deal. Yet he could only watch and wait. The paperwork sat frozen by the ban while the team slid straight into the relegation zone.

By the time the sanction was lifted and Kazapua could finally be registered, Leopards were already entrenched at the wrong end of the table. The damage was done.

Kazapua settles, but results refuse to follow

Once eligible, Kazapua quickly established himself as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper and enjoyed a regular run in the side. The Namibian brought stability between the posts that had been sorely lacking.

The results, though, refused to turn. Leopards never found a sustained run of form, never truly clambered out of danger. Every step forward seemed to be followed by another stumble.

Behind the scenes, the technical area became a revolving door. Coach Joel Masutha started the season but departed in November. His replacement, Mabuti Khenyeza, lasted just 10 matches before the club reshuffled again. Three different technical setups in one campaign, one unrelenting slide.

Sunday’s win over Venda was spirited, but it arrived too late to rewrite the story.

Limpopo pain and Namibian contrasts

Leopards now drop into the Safa ABC Motsepe League, joining fellow Limpopo side Baroka in a double relegation blow for the province.

For Namibia’s contingent in the division, the picture is mixed. While Muzeu and Kazapua face life in the third tier if they stay with Leopards, others are pushing in the opposite direction.

Highbury FC, with Namibians Ndisiro Kamaijanda and Ngero Katua, sit in sixth place and have enjoyed a far more stable campaign. Cape Town City FC in the same division – featuring Namibian talent Prins Tjiueza – are third on the log, level on points with the team in fourth as they chase a play-off spot and dream of promotion battles instead of survival scraps.

The contrast is stark: some Namibian players are fighting for a shot at the top, while two of their countrymen are dragged into the grind of lower-league football.

One game left, and hard decisions ahead

Black Leopards still have one fixture to fulfil: a final-day meeting with eighth-placed Lerumo Lions on Sunday, 17 May at 15h00.

The points will no longer decide their fate. The real questions lie beyond the final whistle. Does Muzeu stay for a third attempt to haul Leopards back up? Does Kazapua see out his two-year deal in the ABC Motsepe League? Or does this relegation become the moment both Namibians look elsewhere for a stage that matches their ambitions?