Banyana Bayana will present their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) trophy to the South African president Cyril Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday.
Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa announced that his department would add R5.8 million as bonus for the girls.
This is on top of the R9,2 million that SAFA has pledged to the team if they win the tournament.
This means that the team players will each receive in the region of R650 000 for their efforts. This is to say well-done and congratulations to the girls and also close the gap between Banyana Banyana and the grossly underperforming Bafana Bafana, the men’s senior national team.
The newly crowned African champions arrived back in South Africa on Tuesday morning, where they received a fitting and rousing welcome from the general public.
“We have finished engaging provinces on the pay parity,” said Mthethwa.
“There is a process that will ensure that women are paid equally. It is going to be a law in this country that Banyana Banyana and Bafana Bafana will be paid equally because we are making that happen as the government. As the government we are supporting all of the women’s teams. Three years ago, we initiated the formation of the Women’s Football League – now we are seeing the fruits of that initiative,” Mthethwa said.
SAFA president, Danny Jordaan, also called for the discrimination in sports to come to an end.
“In South Africa, men’s football gets broadcast revenue while women get nothing. Banyana Banyana matches have no value. These are the issues that we need to address. We will meet with the government because this is not a FIFA creation, or a SAFA creation. It is a societal creation and we must work together to address the disparity between women and men in sports. I will meet and engage with the national executive at SAFA to address gender disparity when it comes to remuneration and bonuses. This celebration is an honour for us as a country and it is about the team that stuck to our plan, delivered on our vision and carried the aspirations of our country,” Jordaan said.
Victorious Banyana players receive rapturous welcome
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