South Africa's Squad for WAFCON Title Defence Announced

Desiree Ellis has nailed her colours to the mast. South Africa’s head coach has gone with battle-hardened experience and a few compelling comeback stories in a 26-player squad tasked with defending the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations crown – and dragging Banyana Banyana back to the World Cup.

The stakes could hardly be higher. Morocco hosts WAFCON from July 26 to August 16, but for South Africa this is about much more than another continental medal. The four semi-finalists will book automatic tickets to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, with two more African sides getting a second chance via intercontinental playoffs. One bad week, and the world stage is gone.

Core of champions stays intact

Ellis has kept faith with the spine that delivered South Africa’s first and only continental title in 2022, when they beat hosts Morocco in Rabat.

Up front, Thembi Kgatlana leads the line again, the talismanic striker once more the face of South Africa’s attacking ambition. Behind her, midfield craft comes from Linda Motlhalo and captain Refiloe Jane, both seasoned at World Cup and WAFCON level.

At the back, the coach leans heavily on continuity. Defenders Lebohang Ramalepe and Bambanani Mbane return, familiar pillars of a back line that has been through the fire. Between the posts, Kaylin Swart and Andile Dlamini are back as the main goalkeeping options, joined by Kebotseng Moletsane.

The message is clear: this is a group that knows the pressure, the travel, the noise, and the margins of tournament football.

A remarkable return – and a shared journey

The most striking selection belongs to Robyn Moodaly-Salgado. Previously retired, she has fought her way back into the national picture and now finds herself in an extraordinary position – sharing a WAFCON squad with her spouse, Gabriela Moodaly-Salgado.

Gabriela’s inclusion carries its own emotional weight. She suffered a horrific broken leg at the last WAFCON, a moment that seemed to slam the brakes on her international trajectory. Now she returns to the same stage, in the same competition, with a chance to write a very different chapter.

South Africa’s squad also includes Hildah Magaia, currently unattached at club level but impossible to overlook. Magaia scored both goals in the 2022 final against Morocco, the brace that sealed South Africa’s first continental crown. Tournament memories do not come much bigger than that, and Ellis has clearly decided that kind of pedigree is non-negotiable.

Group B route: no room for slip-ups

Banyana Banyana have been drawn in Group B and open their campaign against Tanzania in Casablanca on July 27. Four days later, they face Ivory Coast, before completing the group phase against Burkina Faso on August 4.

It is a group that offers opportunity, but also a trap for any side that drifts below full intensity. Only the top two teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals. Drop points early, and the margin for error disappears.

For a team with World Cup qualification as a stated minimum target, there is little scope for easing into the tournament.

Jane: “We know what is at stake”

Captain Refiloe Jane did not dress up the situation. The last edition, she admitted, simply “did not go very well” for South Africa. The memory of that disappointment hangs over this campaign.

She framed this WAFCON in stark, practical terms: it is a World Cup qualifying tournament first, a title defence second. The main objective is clear – reach Brazil in 2027. Everything else flows from that.

Jane’s own journey into this competition has been shaped by injury and timing. An injury setback might have derailed her involvement, but the postponement of the tournament flipped the script. What could have been a race against the clock became a window to regain full fitness and bank crucial minutes with TS Galaxy Queens.

She described that delay as a “blessing in disguise” for both herself and the squad. When the original dates loomed, many players were stuck in off-season mode. Now, with domestic leagues underway, key figures arrive sharper, with competitive rhythm and match legs under them.

For Jane personally, it means she can start “on a high note and build from there,” rather than scrambling for form in the group stages.

Filling the Seoposenwe void

Not all of South Africa’s leaders are on the plane. Jermaine Seoposenwe, a veteran presence in midfield and attack, has retired, leaving a gap that is as emotional as it is tactical.

Jane did not shy away from the scale of that loss. She called Seoposenwe a “special” figure whose influence stretched far beyond the pitch. When a senior player of that stature steps away, the dressing room changes. The dynamic shifts. There is a silence where a familiar voice used to be.

The hope inside the camp is that the younger players have absorbed enough from Seoposenwe’s example to carry that standard forward. That is the natural cycle of international football – one generation hands over, and the next must prove it listened.

For Ellis, that means trusting new and emerging names to mesh with her core of regulars. Players like Noxolo Cesane, Bongeka Gamede, Sibulele Holweni, and Amogelang Motau form part of a midfield group that will be asked to do far more than just keep the ball moving.

Depth across the pitch

The full squad underlines Ellis’s intent to blend continuity with fresh energy:

• Goalkeepers: Kaylin Swart (JVW FC), Andile Dlamini (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Kebotseng Moletsane (University of Fort Hare FC)
• Defenders: Lebohang Ramalepe (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Lonathemba Mhlongo (The University of the Western Cape FC), Karabo Dhlamini (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Asanda Hadebe (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Bambanani Mbane (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Antonia Maponya (The University of the Western Cape FC), Khutso Pila (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Fikile Magama (The University of the Western Cape FC)
• Midfielders: Bongeka Gamede (FC Nordjaelland, Denmark), Noxolo Cesane (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Gabriela Moodaly-Salgado (JVW FC), Linda Motlhalo (Glasgow City, Scotland), Nonhlanhla Mathandi (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Refiloe Jane (TS Galaxy Queens FC), Sibulele Holweni (The University of the Western Cape FC), Isabella Ludwig (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Amogelang Motau (Club Tijuana, Mexico)
• Forwards: Hildah Magaia (unattached), Thembi Kgatlana (Tigres UANL, Mexico), Ronnel Donnelly (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Nthabiseng Majiya (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Zoe October (The University of the Western Cape FC)

It is a group laced with club success from across South Africa and Europe, supported by a strong Mamelodi Sundowns core and a growing university pipeline.

The title of continental champions brings its own weight. Every opponent will raise their game. Every mistake will feel bigger. Ellis and Jane know that. They also know this: if Banyana Banyana want to be in Brazil next year, they have to prove all over again that 2022 was not the peak, but the platform.