Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie comes to players' rescue! Millions released to settle Bafana Bafana & Banyana Banyana's overdue debts

Both the women's and men's National Teams have done quite well in recent international competitions.

Banyana Banyana made the country proud in the most recent 2023 Fifa Women's World Cup by reaching the Round of 16 for the first time in their history.

Bafana Bafana won a Bronze in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations held in Ivory Coast at the beginning of the year.

Banyana Banyana are currently preparing to defend their crown in the 2024 Africa Women's Cup of Nations to be held in Morocco mid-next year.

Their male counterparts made it to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after winning Group K without tasting a loss.

They will resume their 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers in March hoping to seal their ticket and play in the prestigious global competition for the first time since 2010 when Mzansi hosted it.

Despite their achievement, the players have been crying foul owing to their unpaid dues. However, they will now have a reason to smile after Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie intervened.

"I couldn’t sit and watch our players not being paid over the festive, we advanced 5 million rands to be used to pay all Bafana and Banyana players including their bonuses," he posted to X on Thursday.

"We also demanded a turnaround strategy from Safa our players made us proud," McKenzie concluded.

Safa has let the players down after failing to meet their end of the financial bargain, something that might negatively impact their relationship in the future.

The players have proved they are ready to deliver when everything is seamless from all the involved parties.

With SAFA President Danny Jordaan, Chief Financial Officer Gronie Hluyo, and Grit Communications Director Trevor Neethling currently facing fraud and theft charges in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court, not having the funds to pay player bonuses will further calls for change at the South African Football Association.