We turned up at the stadium in April 2025 without tickets for Cape Town City v Sekhukhune Utd in the South African Premier League (the PSL), assuming we could just buy some on the day. We could – it was only a bit more complicated than I expected, and the cheap seats cost £2 each!
Getting there
Our Uber driver took us to the stadium on the Cape Town. It was about 3 miles for £3 – Ubers are very cheap here. He turned out to be a Leeds fan, and told us he’d gone to the 1972 FA Cup final with his cousin – they each picked a team to support that day (he picked Leeds, his cousin picked Arsenal) and they’d stayed fans for life. He also said he’d always admired Trevor Brooking (“he’s a real gentleman”), which definitely endeared him to any West Ham fans who may also have been in the car!
How we bought the PSL tickets
We went to the ticket office and were told we had to buy online, so we did – from Ticketpro’s website. They then checked to see if I had indeed bought it, and then printed out a real paper ticket for us, which was probably not necessary but it’s always good to get a real ticket. I don’t know if the ticket office always works this way, so check before you go. It seemed like a faff considering the entry price …
We had a choice of the executive lounge (£6 a ticket) or the normal seats (£2 a ticket). The cheap seats were definitely the right option. Holding the real ticket made me think about all the times I’ve paid a lot more than £2 for a souvenir gig ticket from Ticketmaster …
The stadium and the atmosphere
The stadium was built for the 2010 World Cup (remember the terrible England v Algeria game?) and holds 55,000. It was called the DHL Stadium when we went, but it’s now known as the Cape Town Stadium. I’m guessing there were about 6,000 there, so it looked pretty empty, but the atmosphere was surprisingly good, with constant drums, singing and a few vuvuzelas too.
At half time I bought a pint of Castle Lite (£2) which I was allowed to take back to my seat, or drink on the concourse with a nice view of Table Mountain. A pint with a view of Table Mountain for £2 – I can’t see that happening at a Premier League ground.
The fans
The fans aren’t segregated, as we discovered when the first goals went in. Home and away fans were sitting together and there was absolutely no aggro between them. We didn’t hear any abuse directed at the players or the ref either. It felt like probably the safest place in the whole country.
Cape Town City were 14th and Sekhukhune 5th, and sadly for the home team they lost 2-1. Despite all the noise during the game, no one seemed that upset.
After the match
We weren’t really sure where to go afterwards, so we walked to a bar called Randy Warthog, which seemed to be mostly full of backpackers. I had a Carling Black Label, which I’m told is a very cool beer in South Africa – it tasted nothing like the version you get in the UK.
After that we wandered to a 24 hour cafe, Andiccio24, and had an amazingly good pizza for R175 (£7) and a Castle Lite for R40 (£1.60).
Quick answers
Can you buy PSL tickets on the day? We did, but the ticket office sent us to buy online first, then printed the ticket for us.
How much were they? £2 each in the normal seats and £6 in the executive lounge, in April 2025. Prices will have moved since, so check.
Are home and away fans kept apart? Not at this game. We all sat together.
£2 for the seat, £2 for the pint and £7 for the pizza. I paid more than that for parking at the last gig I went to!