It was level-pegging at half-time, despite Pirates dominating much of the first half, when Eric Mathoho cancelled out Issar Sarr’s opener.
However, the Buccaneers continued their dominance in the second stanza and made it count with two more goals from Ayanda Gcaba and Thamsanqa Gabuza.
READ: Minute by minute action
The home side launched the first real attack in the second minute, when Letsholonyane’s through-ball met an advancing Abraw, but the striker tried to find Lebese at the far-post instead of shooting, which allowed Sangweni to intercept and clear the danger.
Bucs eventually managed to break through the Chiefs defence in the 8th minute, when Mpho Makola tried to find Kermit Erasmus inside the box, but the pass was a little too strong for the striker, which allowed Itumeleng Khune to collect comfortably.
With Pirates gaining momentum, Thabo Rakhale found some space outside the area and hit a dipping volley in the 17th minute, but Khune had little trouble in dealing with the effort.
The Buccaneers finally broke the deadlock in the 26th minute when Issa Sarr was on hand to bang home from a rebound, after Khune pushed Sangweni’s headed effort at the far-post into the path of the Senegalese midfielder.
Chiefs immediately launched their resurgence from the restart, but Sangweni and co. held their shape and blocked the home side from advancing towards goal.
It could have been 2-0 in the 34th minute when Erasmus collected a Pirates clearance just over the halfway line before launching a menacing counter-attack, which Chiefs were fortunate to escape from after Matlaba scuffed his effort at the back post.
Against the run of play Chiefs won a free-kick in a dangerous area, after Rakhale was adjudged to have fouled Lebese, and Eric Mathoho made no mistake in turning home with a header in the 44th minute to level matters before half-time.
Steve Komphela’s started the second half much like they ended the first, as they enjoyed prolong periods inside the Bucs half, and ‘Yeye’ won a free-kick in a promising area, which Siphiwe Tshabalala sent wide in the 53rd minute.
Just two minutes later, Pirates restored their lead through Ayanda Gcaba, who powerfully headed home from an Erasmus corner after poor defending by Chiefs.
Edward Manqele had his first shot at goal in the 60th minute, after shooting blindly on the turn, but his effort lacked power and Mpontshane collected comfortably.
Ntshumayelo came forth with a superb tackle to deny Abraw with a clean sliding tackle inside the Pirates box, which ended a promising Chiefs counter attack.
Attention was immediately diverted to the other end of the pitch, where Khune was called upon to deny Gabuza in a one-on-one, with the Bafana Bafana coming out tops as he blocked the strike between his legs.
Pirates continued their supremacy over the reigning league champions, when Makola found space at the edge of the area and unleashed a low strike, which Khune did well to hold onto.
Khune was bombarded with strikes, and was again called into making a superb reflex save with his legs, after Sarr’s header in the 74th minute looked destined for goal.
The visitors continued their onslaught on the Chiefs goal, when Rakhale started off with a menacing run, before finding Makola, who teed it up for Ntshumayelo, but the midfielder’s strike went wide of the target in the 78th minute.
Ezimnyama Ngenkani finally made their dominance count when Erasmus, in absolutely spectacular fashion, turned his marker inside out before finding Gabuza, who coolly tapped home to make it 3-1 in the 83rd minute.
So it ended, with the result relieving much of the pressure on Eric Tinkler, and helping Pirates to 11th spot on the log – ahead of SuperSport United for the time being.
Meanwhile, the defeat could see Chiefs drop to as low as 7th on the log, should other results go against them later on Saturday and Sunday.