Betway Premiership newcomers Durban City FC have snapped up Amajita captain Patrick Autata on a permanent deal from Cape Town City FC.
The KZN-based are forging ahead with their activities in the transfer window to build a competitive squad after gaining promotion to the Betway Premiership for the 2025/26 season.
Durban City won the Motsepe Foundation Championship title, securing automatic promotion to the elite league. Following their promotion, Durban City appointed experienced PSL coach Gavin Hunt to lead the team, while Ernst Middendorp assumed the role of sporting director.
Meanwhile, Durban City, formerly known as Maritzburg United, has signed seasoned campaigners such as Darren Keet, Thabo Nodada, and Haashim Domingo, among others.
The signings have proven to be fruitful so far as Durban City are enjoying a promising start to life in the top-flight. They are sitting sixth on the league table after winning two games, drawing two, and losing once in the five opening matches of the season.
DURBAN CITY BOOSTS DEFENSIVE OPTIONS WITH THE SIGNING OF AUTATA
With the Farook Kadodia-owned team seemingly not done recruiting players in the current transfer window, they moved swiftly to sign Patrick Autata to boost their depth in defence.
The talented centre-back spent the previous season with Cape Town City before the club suffered relegation to the NFD. CT City finished the last campaign in 15th position and failed to save their status in the PSL Promotional/Relegation playoffs. Orbit College FC won the playoffs to secure promotion to the Premiership.
On Tuesday morning, Durban City announced the arrival of Autata on a permanent transfer from the Cape Town-based outfit.
“Please welcome Patrick Autata, the captain of SA U-20s to Durban City,” the club made the announcement on social media.
Meanwhile, the highly rated youngster is part of the U-20 preliminary squad that will participate in the U-20 FIFA World Cup in Chile.
The Raymond Mdaka-coached team qualified for the World Cup after winning the U-20 AFCON in Egypt, defeating Morocco 1-0 in the final.
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