Versuchen GOLD - Frei
Bafana: A bunch of winners!
The Star
|October 16, 2025
These were the headlines that greeted Bafana Bafana, with the comments coming from none other than the then Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, after the team’s 3-1 defeat to Nigeria in the 2014 African Nations Championship.
-
Mbalula also claimed Bafana were “useless”, made reference to their “mediocrity”, and stated that “we indeed have a crisis of monumental proportions”.
Contrast this to the jubilant celebration scenes, led by current Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie screaming into the cameras “Siyaya e-America” on Tuesday evening at Nelspruit’s Mbombela Stadium after Bafana qualified for next year’s Fifa World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
For Bafana to have come this far is staggering.
It’s pinch me, wake up, everybody's dreaming territory.
Qualification for a first Fifa World Cup since 2002 was achieved despite the off-field sagas of Safa being debt-ridden leading to the national football’s governing body needing a R5 million bailout from McKenzie’ portfolio last December to settle outstanding player remuneration.
This was on top of President Danny Jordaan facing fraud charges.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 16, 2025-Ausgabe von The Star.
Abonnieren Sie Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierter Premium-Geschichten und über 9.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Sie sind bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
WEITERE GESCHICHTEN VON The Star
The Star
Trump on the wrong side of international law over Venezuela - ex-SA envoy
THE actions of United States President Donald Trump towards Venezuela are \"unacceptable, amount to bullying and place Washington on the wrong side of international law,\" says former South African ambassador to the US Welile Nhlapo.
3 mins
January 06, 2026
The Star
BMA drones capture 25 illegal migrants at Beitbridge border
JUST as they thought they had entered South Africa, drones operated by the Border Management Authority (BMA) captured live footage of illegal migrants crossing from Zimbabwe through the Beitbridge Border Post, leading to the arrest of 25 people.
1 mins
January 06, 2026
The Star
Kaapse Klopse is more than a parade – it is living resistance
THE Kaapse Klopse - once proudly known as the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival and rooted in our ancestors' defiant celebration of Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Second New Year) - stands as a testament to the unbreakable spirit of the enslaved and oppressed.
3 mins
January 06, 2026
The Star
The political economy of oil in Venezuela: Power, policy, and persistent decline
VENEZUELA'S oil industry is one of the most striking illustrations of how politics can both create and destroy economic prosperity.
4 mins
January 06, 2026
The Star
Lamola slams US over Venezuela actions, calls for UN Security Council engagement
INTERNATIONAL Relations Minister, Ronald Lamola, has criticised the US posture toward Venezuela, saying it undermined international law and the principles of state sovereignty enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
2 mins
January 06, 2026
The Star
Smith ready to take his ehanee with both hands
JASON Smith belongs to an elite group of cricketers in South Africa that have actually won an ICC white-ball limited overs World Cup.
2 mins
January 06, 2026
The Star
Air traffic operations at OR Tambo return to normal after disruptions
STAFFING CONSTRAINTS
3 mins
January 06, 2026
The Star
Marikana massacre hovers over ANC's January 8 celebration
THE African National Congress convenes its 114th anniversary on January 8 in the Bojanala District of the North West Province, a terrain upon which the deepest contradictions of South Africa's democratic order have been etched with unforgiving clarity.
4 mins
January 06, 2026
The Star
Ramaphosa’s January 8 statement: Key issues ahead
THE ANC' electoral decline, the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and the decision by the SACP to contest the upcoming elections independently are some of the issues President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to touch on when he delivers his January 8 statement on Saturday.
2 mins
January 06, 2026
The Star
Assaulted 24-year-old tragically found dead in stream
MALAMULELE police are appealing to the public for information that could help arrest suspects linked to the death of a 24-year-old man found floating in a stream.
1 min
January 06, 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size