Written by: Venal Naidu

The 2017 Telkom Knockout final between Bidvest Wits and Bloemfontein Celtic will take place at the Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu on Saturday.

The venue for Saturdays final has left people with a lot of questions but Chief Auditing Officer of Telkom, Cambridge Mokonyane, made it clear that Durban was always the preferred destination for the final.

“Telkom is the people brand. We have consistently taken the game to the people and when we decided on the venue for the final, we didn’t even hesitate because Durban turns up,” said Mokonyane.

He also mentioned that one lucky soccer fan who attends the game on Saturday will walk away with R500 000 just for being at the stadium.

Wits advanced to the final with a narrow 1 nil home victory against Kaizer Chiefs, and Celtic advanced to the final after 120 minutes were up as they beat Polokwane City on penalties.

Bidvest Wits have had an appalling start to the league after winning the league last season but Bongani Khumalo, Wits central defender, hopes that Saturday will change that.

“All we can do is focus on the next game and the next opportunity and obviously Saturday is a really really tasty opportunity,” said Khumalo.

Khumalo hopes that the boys will play well as it will be a great Christmas bonus for themselves and their respective families.

Bloemfontein Celtic midfielder, Jacky Motshegwa, said that the reason for Celtics’ fantastic start to the season has been togetherness.

“We’ve been playing as a team and teamwork is the reason we have been getting results,” said Motshegwa.

Motshegwa is also wary about the tough task ahead but remains confident that his team can bring the cup home.

“They have a lot of experience in their team; the likes of Klate (Dane Klate) Bongani (Bongani Khumalo) Pienaar (Steven Pienaar) but the boys are ready of the match and I’m sure we’ll come home with the cup,” explained Motshegwa.

The game will kick off at 6pm on Saturday.

*Caption: (from left) Jacky Motshegawa (Bloemfontein Celtic), Mato Madlala (CEO of the Premier Soccer League), Cambridge Mokonyane (Chief Auditing Officer of Telkom) and Bongani Kumalo (Bidvest Wits) at the press conference at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.