Moneni Pirates

Fanelo Mamba wore the black and white before anyone outside Eswatini had heard his name: he came through Moneni Pirates' ranks and made his senior debut for the club in 2015, three years before a move to Young Buffaloes and a regular place in the national side. The club that shaped him grew out of an older side, The Blue Birds, which Ngungunyane Matsenjwa took over in September 1967 and rebuilt under a new name borrowed from Orlando Pirates across the border in South Africa.

The Premier League title has stayed out of reach ever since. Manzini's Buccaneers have gone down three times, in 1998–99, 2005–06 and 2014–15, and come back up on each occasion, a pattern that has left cup football as the club's real hunting ground. The 2015 Swazi Bank Cup, won 2–0 against Manzini Wanderers, sits alongside older wins in the Trade Fair Cup and the BP Challenge Cup, the latter lifted in successive seasons in 1987 and 1988. A runners-up finish to Royal Leopards in the 2024/25 Ingwenyama Cup, lost by a single goal, showed the side still competing for silverware even without league form to match.

Wanderers are not the only side across town with a claim on Pirates' attention: matches against Denver Sundowns carry the same local weight, and any fixture between the three is known simply as the Manzini Derby. Off the pitch, the club changed hands again in 2024, when businessman Thulani Xaba succeeded Osborne Nzima as president.

Pirates play in front of 5,000 at the Mavuso Sports Centre, the ground that has anchored them in Manzini since well before the last relegation, let alone the next promotion push.