Prominent Gqeberha pigeon racing champion Koos Botha is celebrating being the Port Elizabeth Pigeon Federation and Eastern Province Pigeon Union championship winner for 2026.
Ryan Andrews, publicity officer for the Eastern Province Pigeon Union, said that Botha had a record season, winning the championships by a sizeable margin.
Botha previously excelled by winning the 17-bird championships overall points in both the Port Elizabeth Pigeon Federation and Eastern Province Pigeon Union in the Year 2024.
The EPPU and PEPF 17-Bird champion for the 2026 season was Nathan Pieterson, winning his maiden championships.
His standout performance, which sealed the championship, was his first union race win, the longest race of the season, being from Parys in the Free State.
His pigeon ZAOP 5534 2025 flew 807km and was one of only two birds clocked on the day. The pigeon clocked in at 10.40pm at the dead of night, a spectacular performance for her proud owner.
The Young Bird champions for the season are the Koutsoudis Brothers with friend and partner Danny McMaster.
They had a dominating season, winning the championship by securing first, second, and third place in the overall points. The Young Bird series is held on five consecutive weekends, usually from the last weekend in April and the four weekends of May.
Madeleine De Klerk was at her devastating best in the Yearling series introduced this season.
The series started the first weekend in June and ran for seven consecutive weeks on the East route; De Klerk dominated the series, winning the championship by a huge margin.
The EPPU is the only union that offers fanciers two completely different races on a weekend, that being racing from a North and East route; the North route generally has faster Velocity finishes, and the East route is a more difficult, slower race with average winning velocities around 1100 metres per minute.
The Junior champion for the 2026 season is Haylee Landsberg. Haylee's consistent performance won her maiden championship in her first season competing. She is the first champion from the Uitenhage-Despatch federation.
The 55th annual prize-giving dinner will be held at the Hellenic Hall on Saturday, November 28 at 4pm, said Andrews.
