Ticket Mayhem: Nedbank Cup Final Soweto Derby Tickets Sell Out in 3 Hours Amid Fan Frustration
Johannesburg – 05 May 2025
South African football fans were sent into a frenzy on Monday morning as tickets for the highly anticipated Nedbank Cup Final — a historic Soweto Derby clash between Orlando Pirates☠️ and Kaizer Chiefs✌️ — sold out in under three hours, leaving thousands frustrated after experiencing technical glitches, long queues, and error messages from ticket outlets.
Tickets went on sale at 10:00 AM on Monday, 05 May 2025, through Open Tickets outlets, including Shoprite, Checkers stores, and online via www.opentickets.co.za. Priced at R150 each with a limit of four per person, fans wasted no time trying to secure their seat for the epic clash.
By 08:00 AM, long queues had already formed outside ticketing outlets across the country, with supporters braving the morning chill and lining up in hopes of getting their hands on a ticket. However, what followed was a morning of digital chaos.
As early as 10:05 AM, fans attempting to buy online began to flood social media with complaints of sluggish platforms, site crashes, and unresponsive payment pages. Both Open Tickets and Computicket were overwhelmed by an unprecedented surge in web traffic.
Computicket was forced to issue a social media statement urging patience:
“We are aware of the delay on ticket sales for the Nedbank Cup,” read the message. “We are currently awaiting further information and will update the website as we receive it.”
The message did little to calm fans who had already spent significant time in online queues or were kicked out midway through transactions.
Meanwhile, some Computicket physical outlets experienced system failures — frustrating supporters even more. After successfully placing orders, some customers were unable to print their tickets due to unexpected system errors, with some outlets turning fans away altogether.
OpenTicket’s online platform wasn’t spared either. Fans shared screenshots of queue pages displaying messages such as:
“We are experiencing a high volume of traffic right now and using a queue to ensure the best experience for everyone. Thanks for your patience.”
Queue numbers ranged as high as #15,000, and the automated refresh system left many stranded for hours. For many supporters, the page never progressed far enough to complete a purchase.
This derby final — already historic — only fueled the demand. It marks the first time in years that Kaizer Chiefs✌️ and Orlando Pirates☠️ meet in a cup final, reigniting one of Africa’s biggest football rivalries.
The excitement was amplified by last weekend’s tightly contested Soweto Derby on Saturday, 03 May 2025, where Orlando Pirates emerged 2-1 victors at the FNB Stadium. Now, fans are eager to witness round two — with Chiefs playing host this time — in what promises to be a thunderous conclusion to their back-to-back derbies.
The last time these two iconic clubs met in both a league fixture and a cup final in the same month was back in 2010 — a memory that still burns bright in fans’ minds. On 13 November 2010, Chiefs won 3-1 in a league clash, with a brace from Knowledge Musona and an own goal by Daine Klate. Pirates pulled one back through Ezenwa Otorugu.
Less than a month later, on 04 December 2010, Kaizer Chiefs dominated again, crushing Pirates 3-0 in the Telkom Knockout Final, thanks to a brace from Sthembiso Ngcobo and a goal by the legendary Siphiwe Tshabalala.
Both of those fixtures were hosted by the Buccaneers — but now, in a twist of fate, the upcoming final will be a Chiefs home game.
With ticket sales now closed and stadium capacity maxed out, fans who missed out will have to watch from home — or hope for last-minute resales. But one thing is certain: history is about to be made, and the country will come to a standstill as the giants of Soweto battle for silverware once again.