Pretoria Callies and Bizana Pondo Chiefs were promoted to the national first division after the conclusion of the ABC Motsepe League playoffs semifinals at the Vaal University of Technology on Thursday.

Callies beat Mangaung Unite 3-1 in the first semifinal while Pondo Chiefs beat Umvoti 4-3 on penalties as the two teams earned the right to play in the GladAfrica Championship in the coming season.

Callies and Pondo Chiefs will face each other in the final on Saturday to determine the overall ABC Motsepe League champions in what is expected to be a hotly contested match.

In the first semifinal‚ Callies went to the half time break leading 2-0 through a well-taken brace from former SuperSport United striker Thabiso Nkoana.

Nkoana‚ who was named the man-of-the-match‚ was not finished as he returned from the break to register his hat-trick. Mangaung Unite got their consolation goal through Mzwethu Mario Aaron.

In the second match‚ Pondo Chiefs needed a penalty shoot-out to overcome stubborn Umvoti as the two sides could not be separated and remained deadlocked at 0-0 after a grueling 90 minutes of football.

Callies and Pondo Chiefs replace Royal Eagles and Mbombela United who were relegated at the end of last season where the campaign was completed in a bio-bubble due to Covid-19.

Callies and Pondo Chiefs players will not have enough time to rest and celebrate their promotion success as the first division starts on November 27 after it was delayed due to the late start of the play-offs.