Evidence Makgopa: Soccer Striker, Caps, Salary and Net Worth

Evidence Makgopa is a South African soccer striker, born on 5 June 2000 in GaMampa near Burgersfort in Limpopo, who joined Orlando Pirates from Baroka in 2022 and has played as a striker for South Africa. His full name is Sekotori Evidence Makgopa, and he scored twice on his senior international debut against Uganda on 8 June 2021 in a 3 to 2 win for Bafana Bafana. The caps module above carries the live count of his senior appearances and international goals.

Think of the longest taxi ride you have taken to a big match, and then picture making a version of that journey as a career. Makgopa went from a village tournament in December 2018 to a World Cup squad in May 2026, which is a quick climb by any measure. What follows traces his path from club to country in order, with the honours dated, and it gives the money question a straight answer on who reported what.

Who Is Evidence Makgopa?

Makgopa is a centre forward, a number nine who makes his living in the penalty area. He was born in GaMampa, a rural village near Burgersfort, and he came through at Baroka before the move to the Buccaneers in 2022. Supporters across the country know him by the surname alone, while the full name, Sekotori Evidence Makgopa, is the one on the official records. He is one of the clearest examples in the PSL of a late starter who kept improving once the chance came.

Most readers arrive with the same handful of questions, so the short versions come first. Which club does Makgopa play for? He joined Orlando Pirates from Baroka in 2022, and the club module confirms his registration for this season. How many caps does he have? The caps module above carries the running total with its date. On net worth, the money section below lists what has been reported, by outlet and year, including the salary of around R200,000 a month that Briefly News has reported, and it explains what that figure does and does not tell you.

The Road From GaMampa to Orlando Pirates

Makgopa's route into the professional game started later than most. He grew up in GaMampa, where the walk to school was roughly 10 km each way, and he only began organised soccer at around the age of 13. Baroka scouts then spotted him at a village tournament in December 2018. He told FIFA in 2021 that he had not believed he was good enough to become a professional, which says a great deal about how quickly things moved once somebody with a notebook turned up at the right tournament.

The breakthrough came under Dylan Kerr, the Baroka coach who promoted him to the first team in January 2020. His debut followed on 23 February 2020, in a Nedbank Cup tie against Hungry Lions that finished 2 to 2, and a week later, on 1 March 2020, he scored twice against Bloemfontein Celtic. Those seven days showed what he could do in the penalty area. His senior years at Baroka ran from 2019 to 2022, and across them he made 64 appearances and scored 14 goals for the first team, with those figures covering his spell through the close of 2021-22.

Orlando Pirates signed him from Baroka in 2022. He walked into a squad that started collecting cups almost at once. The Nedbank Cup followed in 2022-23 and again in 2023-24, with the MTN8 arriving in 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26. Then came the big one, because Pirates finished top of the Premiership log in 2025-26 and added the Carling Knockout Cup in the same season. His appearances and goals for the Bucs sit in the career module, which updates after every match.

What Makgopa Does on the Pitch

Makgopa plays as a centre forward, and the clearest sourced detail on his influences is that Briefly News reported in 2021 that he took up the game partly out of admiration for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. That is a telling model for a number nine, and it is a reminder that a striker's style is best judged from the matches themselves.

The defining performances come with dates attached. There were two goals against Bloemfontein Celtic on 1 March 2020, a week after his senior debut, and two more on his international debut against Uganda on 8 June 2021. A goal against France at the Tokyo Olympics later that year showed the same habit on a bigger stage. A goals column alone rarely tells the whole story for a number nine, so when you read the statistics module, look at starts and minutes beside the goals, because a centre forward's contribution shows in how often he plays as well as how often he scores.

Makgopa and Bafana Bafana: Debut, Caps and Tournaments

His international story began with a debut that few strikers manage. On 8 June 2021 he scored twice against Uganda in a 3 to 2 win, which is why readers in Kampala tend to know the name as well as anyone in Soweto. The Cranes remain regular opponents for South Africa, and that match is the first entry in the run of meetings dated from June 2021 onwards. Later that year he went to the delayed Tokyo Olympics, where he appeared in three matches and scored against France.

Makgopa earned an Africa Cup of Nations bronze medal as part of South Africa's squad for the tournament held under the 2023 edition name, and that third place finish is still a point of pride at home. Then, on 28 May 2026, Hugo Broos selected him for the World Cup finals party, which placed a striker from a Limpopo village tournament on the sport's biggest stage.

How should you read the caps module? It shows a running total with a date, because the count moves with every international window and figures quoted around the web do not always agree. His debut year is 2021, and the date beside the count tells you how current it is. He belongs in any conversation about African soccer players who built a national team career from a home league, and the PSL is the main event in that story.

Evidence Makgopa net worth

Evidence Makgopa has no net worth estimate from a named news outlet, so the reported figures that do exist concern his pay and his market value. Briefly News, in a list of the highest paid players in South Africa first published on 21 March 2023 and last updated on 28 March 2026, reported that Orlando Pirates pay him around R200,000 a month. Multiply that out and you reach roughly R2.4 million a year before any deductions. That amount comes from media reporting rather than financial records, since his contract terms have not been made public.

The older reporting gives less to work with, although it is worth setting out. Briefly News's 2021 profile, written while he was still at Baroka, described his salary as private and cited a market value estimate of EUR 838,000 from a soccer data site, with no net worth figure at all. No outlet has reported an endorsement deal or an image rights arrangement.

Why does no total ever appear for him? A total needs both assets and debts to be known, and neither is public for a PSL player. A transfer fee goes to the selling club and never to the striker, and a market value is only a guess at what the next fee might be. A wage tells you what comes in each month and nothing about what is kept. Readers outside South Africa should remember that the rand salary converts at whatever the rate is on the day, so treat any conversion into naira, Kenyan shillings, cedis or Ugandan shillings as a rough guide.

Age, Hometown, Family and Schooling

Makgopa was born on 5 June 2000, which means he turned 26 in June 2026, a few days after the World Cup squad was named. Home is GaMampa, the rural village near Burgersfort in Limpopo where the school run was that walk of roughly 10 km each way. He matriculated from Poo Secondary School in 2017, a year before the Baroka scouts found him. Little about his family has been published, so the record stops at the village upbringing he described to FIFA in 2021. It is a story that travels well, because readers in Lagos, Nairobi, Accra and Kampala all know a player who started late on a village pitch.

How to Watch Makgopa From Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda

Where you live decides how you follow him. In South Africa, Pirates matches in the Betway Premiership and the domestic cups are shown mostly on pay television and streaming, and the fixtures module lists the channel for each match. Supporters beyond South Africa tend to follow through highlights, short clips and live score apps, with full broadcasts varying by country and by competition. The module shows what is listed for your country as data, so check it before you plan an evening around a match.

Kick off times are given in four zones together, because the same match starts at different hours on the clock. For a match starting at 19:30 SAST in Johannesburg, viewers in Accra tune in at 17:30 GMT, those in Nairobi and Kampala at 20:30 EAT, and those in Lagos at 18:30 WAT. The Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs is the fixture that draws the widest audience, and Bafana Bafana internationals bring in readers from every opponent's country. So, find the Pirates or South Africa date you want in the fixtures module, note your local time, and confirm the listed broadcaster on the day.