Moses Mabhida Stadium chosen for MTN8 final without hosting fee, says eThekwini mayor

eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba says the municipality does not pay the Premier Soccer League (PSL) to stage major cup finals at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The Durban venue was confirmed on Monday as the host of the MTN8 final between Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns on 10 October at 6pm.

It will be the eighth time in the past 10 editions that Moses Mabhida Stadium has staged the MTN8 final. Xaba said the venue’s repeated selection reflected KwaZulu-Natal’s appeal as a tourist destination rather than any payment by the municipality.

“They just want to come here. We don’t do anything like pay for the matches. We don’t do that. People love Durban because of the electric atmosphere they find here,” Xaba said.

“We are a tourism attraction of choice and MTN knows they are likely to market their brand well. We are one of the big metros, accommodation establishments are here and there is a lot of tourism endowment, such as beaches and the ubuntu of the people.”

Xaba said the municipality’s spending was focused on maintaining the wider tourism offering, rather than securing football matches.

“There will be no need for us to pay, except to produce what we have by spending money on getting our beaches clean, ensuring we support our tourist establishments and all role players in the value chain,” he said.

“This will be the launch pad for our festive season.”

Stadium preparations

eThekwini executive director of community services Vusi Mazibuko said Moses Mabhida Stadium had not been available for matches during the 2026-27 domestic season because work was being carried out to ensure the pitch would be ready.

“On the issue of readiness, the reason Moses Mabhida has not been available is that there is work being done here,” he said.

“The stadium has been selective in which matches to host. That unavailability made King’s Park across [the road] available to host some matches that would ordinarily have been hosted here.”

Mazibuko said the stadium’s management had been preparing specifically for the possibility of hosting the final, including deciding which activities could take place on the pitch.

“The stadium management had a plan that they want to host finals and they have been planning to host this final. Part of that plan included what will be allowed on the pitch so if the announcement is made it must favour the stadium,” he said.

The pitch deteriorated after rain during Durban City’s 1-0 Caf Confederation Cup preliminary round victory over Burundi’s Rukinzo FC on 6 September.

“Part of that requirement will be readiness of the pitch. When the Durban City match happened, unfortunately it rained and the pitch deteriorated,” Mazibuko said.

He added that the necessary work, and events planned between that match and the final announcement, had to be rearranged. As a result, Golden Arrows could not play at the stadium while preparations continued.

“Hence a Golden Arrows match could not be taken in anticipation that if we get the final, we must be ready. Those were strategic decisions that were taken in preparation for the announcement to favour us.”