Mama Joy to Orlando Pirates

Posted on January 25, 2026

South African soccer supporter Mama Joy – real name Joy Chauke – has boldly declared her wish to return her membership to her old club, Orlando Pirates.

The sports fan infamously ditched the PSL club to back the now-defunct Royal AM, owned by Shauwn Mkhize, aka MaMkhize.

Chauke also voiced her support for Makhize’s Eswatini club, Mbabane Highlanders.

MAMA JOY WANTS TO RETURN TO ORLANDO PIRATES

Over the weekend, Mama Joy had soccer supporters speculating after she posted a throwback image of her wearing her Orlando Pirates fan kit on her X account.

She boldly captioned the clip: “Can I come back?”

In 2021, Mama Joy infamously ditched the Buccaneers – after 30 years of royal support – to back Royal AM instead.

She told Newzroom Afrika at the time:  “As hard as it is, I am leaving Orlando Pirates. I want to support MaMkhize as a woman in football, and I want to support Royal AM.

“I realised that she loves soccer and had her ambitions set on playing in the PSL when she acquired the status of Bloemfontein Celtic, and that kind of passion and purpose really clinched it for me.”

After the club was disbanded from the PSL club last year due to MaMkhize’s tax woes, Mama Joy tweeted: “Royal Am was my family.”

She went on to post that she now faced “no home” in the PSL.

FANS RESPOND

In the comments section, Orlando Pirates fans had mixed reactions to Mama Joy’s plea.

@spopovxcc tweeted: ”Nah. Try Kaizer Chiefs”, while @alexsithole: “We as Orlando Pirates fans love you. Please attend our next match. We missed you and welcome you back”.