South Africa retain men’s Africa Netball Cup title as Proteas finish runners-up
South Africa walked away from the 2026 Africa Netball Cup in Nairobi with a men’s title and a women’s runners-up finish as the continent’s top teams battled for honours and Netball World Cup Sydney 2027 qualification.
The biggest success came from the South African men’s team, who successfully defended their continental crown after beating Eswatini in the final.
It is their second consecutive Africa Netball Cup title, underlining their dominance in the men’s competition.
The final was another tough battle between the two sides, with South Africa having already beaten Eswatini 43-36 earlier in the tournament.
Eswatini pushed the defending champions all the way, but South Africa kept their composure and finished strongly to secure the trophy.
South Africa assistant coach Siyabonga Khuzwayo praised his players for their discipline.
“I’m super happy. I honestly don’t even know how to explain it. I’m just proud of the boys because they did a great job,” said Khuzwayo.
Khuzwayo said the team had to remain disciplined with possession and make the right decisions under pressure.
“We had to keep reminding the boys every quarter to stay disciplined, especially when we had the ball in hand.”
The South African women’s team, meanwhile, narrowly missed out on retaining their title after losing 56-53 to Uganda in the final.
The SPAR Proteas had to settle for second place after Uganda completed an unbeaten campaign.
Despite the defeat, South Africa had already secured qualification for the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney through the World Netball Rankings.
Uganda had also qualified through the rankings, while Malawi and Namibia secured Africa’s remaining two qualification places through their performances in Nairobi.
For South Africa, the tournament therefore ended with two medals across the men’s and women’s competitions, with the men successfully retaining their continental crown and the Proteas finishing among Africa’s top two.
