It’s now official: Black Leopards are now based in Polokwane. They finally moved to Limpopo Province’s capital city on Monday.

The club’s brand manager, Mr Tshifhiwa Thidiela, confirmed this early this week. Thidiela stated that the decision to relocate the team to Polokwane was influenced by a number of factors.

According to him it was expensive for the club to travel about 100 kilometers from Louis Trichardt to honour their home matches at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. He stated that it was important for the team to train at their home ground on a day-to-day basis in order for the players to acclimatise with the environment.

Thidiela appealed to the residents of Vhembe District not to despair, saying they will bring the team back to Thohoyandou if and when there is a venue that meets the Premier Soccer League standards within Vhembe District. He revealed that they will maintain their offices at Louis Trichardt.

Thidiela said that their Polokwane offices are at the Peter Mokaba Stadium. He further stated that the team resumed training this week after breaking for the festive holidays. According to him, the team will go for a training camp in Mozambique on Sunday, January 22. They will play a number of friendly matches as part of their preparations for the second-round matches which kick off on Wednesday, February 15.

Lidoda Duvha’s first second-round encounter will be against Orlando Pirates, to whom they lost 0-2 in their opening league match.

When asked about the new signings, Thidiela mentioned that they had beefed up their defence by acquiring the services of an experienced defender, Siphiwe Mkhonza. Thidiela dismissed the rumour that their midfielder-cum-striker, Benedict Vilakazi, was not on their payroll anymore, saying the player was still on their books.