SuperSport United FC has been sold to Siwelele FC, pending approval from the PSL Executive Committee. The sale would mean that the only clubs to have survived the last 12 years in the Premiership without any relegation, promotion, location changes and/or buying and selling of top-flight status would be the 'big three' of Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns. SuperSport United are the fourth most successful club in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) era, behind only the big three. They won three Premiership titles back-to-back under current Durban City head coach Gavin Hunt in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10. The three Gauteng giants are the best-supported clubs in the country. Sundowns, who have won the last eight Premiership titles, have the backing of the Motsepe family. Billionaire owner Patrice Motsepe handed the presidency of the club to son Tlhopane in 2021, following his own successful bid for the CAF presidency. Chiefs and Pirates - while not backed by quite the same wealth in terms of ownership - are the two best-supported clubs in the country, giving them significant leverage to strike lucrative commercial deals. It is unlikely that we will see any of the three biggest clubs in South Africa evaporate in the near future. However, the fact that even their biggest competitors are toppling all around them raises serious concerns for the sustainability of South Africa's football pyramid in its current form. Moroka Swallows - one of the former top clubs in South Africa whose rivalry with Orlando Pirates predated the existence of Chiefs and Sundowns - have fallen out of the professional ranks, bought their way back in under new ownership, then cashed in all over again, selling their status to Marumo Gallants. Bidvest Wits - the last club to win the league before Sundowns' run of eight in a row - sold their PSL status in 2020. SuperSport as a talent pipeline Like Wits, SuperSport United had a youth structure which produced much of the country's top talent. Current Bafana Bafana skipper Ronwen Williams is perhaps the most notable graduate of the current generation, though one could also make a case for Kermit Erasmus, given that he has yet to call time on his playing career. Star Sundowns and Bafana Bafana midfielder Teboho Mokoena is another, as well as Brugge winger Shandre Campbell and CR Belouizdad forward Khanyisa Mayo. The likes of Aubrey Modiba, Luke le Roux, Grant Kekana and Patrick Maswanganyi arrived in the club's ranks later in their development but first came to prominence in SuperSport United's first team before moving on to established clubs elsewhere. In recent years, SuperSport United have kept a tight lid on spending amid financial restructuring at their parent company and post-COVID budgetary challenges for South African football, with Stellenbosch FC creeping into the position in the market which Matsatsantsa once fought with Bidvest Wits for - a club which can develop its talent, sell it on and reinvest wisely to remain competitive even against