12 December 2024 – The South African Football Association (SAFA) wishes to thank the Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture after receiving an offer of a R5 million advance to help pay for Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana bonuses and staff salaries.
The amount will be deducted from the 2025 grant, which is 70% of the government’s contribution and support to football in this country. We wish to thank Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture Gayton McKenzie for this contribution.
Coach Hugo Broos and his Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) bronze medalists have qualified for next year’s continental tournament in Morocco, and they ended the qualifying campaign with an unbeaten record, perched at the top of Group K after beating South Sudan 3-0 in Cape Town last month.
African champions Banyana Banyana have also qualified for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) after a 2-0 (3-1 aggregate) victory over Burkina Faso in a second leg qualifier at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in December last year in a game that also served as veteran defender Janine Van Wyk’s farewell match. She officially bowed out of the sport as the most capped African player (men or women) after the match.
Next year’s WAFCON tournament will also be held in Morocco and the Sasol-sponsored South African senior women’s national team has been drawn in Group C where they will face Ghana, Mali and Tanzania.
SAFA wishes to congratulate both Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana for these achievements.
“Despite the reduction in our financial resources that have dwindled recently due to the tough economic climate in the country and other reasons beyond our control, the Association has not stopped investing significantly in the preparation and participation of competitive South African national teams on the international stage (from U15s to senior men and women) that have continued to make the country proud” said SAFA CEO Lydia Monyepao
SAFA has indicated to the department that much of these financial issues have emanated from insufficient sponsorship revenue, among other reasons. Both teams have had to utilise charter flights during their respective qualifying campaigns, and these came at considerable cost to the Association.
“Unfortunately, our sponsorship funding which we heavily rely on, has not been sufficient in recent times to see us meet our monthly obligations, over and above other costs that arise due to the hosting and participation of our national teams in international competitions.”
The organisation’s financial turnaround strategy, which is looking to cut costs and increase revenue, will be presented to Minister McKenzie after SAFA’s next national executive committee meeting.
