16 February 2026 – Sasol Banyana Banyana’s road to the Brazil 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup begins in earnest when they participate in this year’s 2025 COSAFA Women’s Championship. A few days ago coach, Desiree Ellis announced a 38-member squad in preparation for an Alignment camp for the COSAFA Women’s Championship and the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
The team went into camp on 13 February 2026, in preparation for the two tournaments to be played this year. The WAFCON is scheduled to take place in Morocco from 17-3 April 2026, while the COSAFA Women’s Championship will be held in Polokwane, South Africa, from 18 February – 1 March 2026.
Ellis said she will use the regional tournament as part of her preparations for WAFCON and a squad made up of only local-based players will assemble for camp in Johannesburg on Friday before making their way to Limpopo on Sunday. She said the overseas-based contingent is expected to start arriving from 25 February in line with the FIFA calendar window.
“The squad will be trimmed down to the required number after the COSAFA Women’s Championship before they travel to North Africa. In the regional tournament, the South African senior women’s national team was drawn in Group A alongside Malawi, Lesotho and Angola.
“The 2022 African Champions will kick off the competition with a clash against the Scorchers of Malawi on Wednesday, 18 February 2026, at the Seshego Stadium. The action will move to the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in the next two matches where the South Africans will host Angola on 21 February 2026, followed by the last group stages game against Lesotho on 24 February 2026,” she said.
Ellis further said kick-off for all three fixtures is at 3pm. She said the semi-final clashes have been scheduled in for 27 February 2026.
“There is a third-place play-off match on Sunday, 1 March at midday, which will precede the final scheduled for 15h00 on the same day at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium. In the WAFCON, Banyana Banyana will face off against the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Tanzania.
“For the first time in the history of the competition, 16 nations will take part and the top four will qualify for the Brazil 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup,” said Ellis.
14 February 2026 – Sasol Banyana Banyana’s road to the Brazil 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup begins in earnest when they participate in this year’s 2025 COSAFA Women’s Championship. A few days ago, Banyana Banyana coach, Desiree Ellis announced a 38-member squad in preparation for an alignment camp for the COSAFA Women’s Championship and the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
The team went into camp on 13 February 2026, in preparation for the two tournaments to be played this year. The WAFCON is scheduled to take place in Morocco from 17-3 April 2026, while the COSAFA Women’s Championship will be held in Polokwane, South Africa, from 18 February – 1 March 2026.
Ellis said she will use the regional tournament as part of her preparations for WAFCON and a squad made up of only local-based players will assemble for camp in Johannesburg on Friday before making their way to Limpopo on Sunday. She said the overseas-based contingent is expected to start arriving from 25 February 2026, in line with the FIFA calendar window.
“The squad will be trimmed down to the required number after the COSAFA Women’s Championship before they travel to North Africa. In the regional tournament, the South African senior women’s national team was drawn in Group A alongside Malawi, Lesotho and Angola.
“The 2022 African Champions will kick off the competition with a clash against the Scorchers of Malawi on Wednesday, 18 February 2026 at the Seshego Stadium. The action will move to the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in the next two matches where the South Africans will host Angola on 21 February 2026, followed by the last group stages game against Lesotho on 24 February 2026,” said Ellis.
Kickoff for all three fixtures is at 3pm. The semi-final clashes have been scheduled for 27 February 2026.
She further said there is a third-place play-off match on 1 March at midday, which will precede the final scheduled for 3pm on the same day at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium. Ellis added that in the WAFCON, Banyana Banyana will face off against the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Tanzania.
“For the first time in the history of the competition, 16 nations will take part and the top four will qualify for the Brazil 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Picture: The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Alvin Botes
By OBAKENG MAJE
30 April 2025- The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Alvin Botes said the G20, or Group of Twenty, is an international forum of the world’s major economies—both developed and emerging—that collectively represent approximately 85% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 75% of international trade, and about two-thirds of the world’s population.
Botes said this at the Group of Twenty (G20) High Level African Dialogue of the Think 20 (T20), in Pretoria, South Africa, 29 April 2025. He further said initially formed to promote international financial stability and economic coordination in the wake of the 1999 financial crises, the G20 has evolved into a central forum for addressing a wide range of global challenges, including climate change, poverty, digital transformation, food security and inclusive development.
“In 2023, the African Union (AU) was admitted as a permanent member of the G20 during the Leaders’ Summit in Delhi, India.
“This historic development, following the inclusion of the European Union as a regional bloc, underscores Africa’s growing importance in global governance and provides the continent with a unique opportunity to influence the world’s most powerful economic agenda-setting body,” said Botes.
He further said South Africa, as the sole African G20 member state and now the host of the 2025 G20 Presidency, plays a crucial role in facilitating and amplifying African agency in this forum. Botes added that South Africa’s presidency, themed Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability, is not only a call for cooperative global action but a platform for Africa to reshape its engagement with the global community.
“South Africa assumes the G20 Presidency at a critical historical juncture. The world is navigating what many have termed a ‘polycrisis’—a convergence of overlapping global challenges including inequality, debt distress, climate shocks, geopolitical instability, food insecurity and digital exclusion.
“These are not abstract global threats—they are lived realities for millions across Africa. With less than five years remaining before the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is growing concern over the backsliding on global commitments,” he said.
Botes said as highlighted by the UN, only 12% of SDG targets are currently on track. He said South Africa’s presidency is particularly important because it offers a platform to re-centre the G20’s focus on development outcomes for the Global South, particularly Africa.
“With the theme Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability, South Africa has pledged to push for collective global responses that reflect the principles of justice, equity, and inclusiveness—values deeply rooted in the African philosophy of Ubuntu.
“The Presidency will promote a people-centred, development oriented G20 that fosters inclusive economic transformation rather than economic dominance by the few,” said Botes.
He said the G20 operates through two primary tracks: the Finance Track and the Sherpa Track. The Finance Track focuses on macroeconomic issues, financial stability, debt sustainability, taxation, and infrastructure financing. Botes said the Sherpa Track, on the other hand, covers broader developmental and sectoral policy discussions on employment, education, digital transformation, climate change, gender equality, health, and more.
“The T20 Africa High-Level Policy Dialogue at a moment when our continent’s voice is not only being amplified in global forums but is helping to alter the global governance architecture.
“South Africa’s G20 Presidency in 2025, captured in our theme: Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability is a unique value proposition to the rest of the world to change the economic and financial architecture of global governance institutions,” he said.
Botes said their deliberations are integral to that effort. He said the T20 brings some of Africa’s finest thinkers to the table, ensuring that ideas forged encapsulates state and non-state policy considerations from the African continent at a substantive level and not merely as a subordinate consideration.
“Our task is clear: transform the African Union’s historic admission as a permanent G20 member from symbolism into substance—through coherent positions, credible analysis and consistent advocacy.
“Engagement groups such as the T20, W20, C20, Y20 and Labour 20 are the heartbeat of the G20. They translate lived experience into evidence-based policy and give legitimacy to global decisions,” said Botes.
He said for Africa, their work is vital in confronting debt vulnerability, accelerating digital transformation, securing fair trade and unlocking climate-resilient development. Botes said as they debate, let them keep sight of the broader struggle for African agency.
“We do not assert ourselves out of resentment, but out of conviction that the world needs Africa’s ideas and resources if it is to overcome inequality, conflict and ecological crisis.
“And as we champion inclusion, let us make it gender-responsive and fair to future generations: women and children still bear the heaviest burdens of poverty and climate stress,” he said.
Botes said South Africa’s foreign policy—rooted in Pan-Africanism, human rights, international law, peaceful resolution of conflict, multilateralism, international solidarity and non-alignment —will use this G20 Presidency to press for a more just financial architecture, equitable access to development finance, food-energy-water security and a value-adding transition in critical minerals.
He said with the above in mind, it is now his privilege to introduce a leader whose commitment to strengthening the African Agency in the G20 is unequivocal.
BY REGINALD KANYANE
NORTH West provincial government said that they will continue to build a relationship with the Botswana, and put in place few projects that will benefit both countries.
MEC for Department of Culture, Arts and Traditional Affairs Tebogo Modise said that South Africans and Batswana people from the Republic of Botswana, must be inspired to write about events of the past and work together towards uniting the two nations.
Modise said this on Saturday in Gaborone, where she was representing North West premier Supra Obakeng Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo during the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the 1985 June 14 raid in Gaborone.
Speaking at the commemoration which was attended by amongst others, survivors of that horrendous night in Gaborone, which included Nathaniel Mooketsi Serache and Abel Masifi from Mahikeng, and Moitse Botshelo from Gaborone, MEC Modise said information on the history of our liberation struggle must be documented for future generation.
“In the spirit of preserving our heritage, we must retrace the steps, highlight the memorable events of the apartheid regime, and ensure that stories of South Africa and Botswana are properly told,” Modise said.
She deeply thanked people from Botswana for their sacrifices and selfless support to South Africans during the struggle for freedom.
Dignitaries who attended the commemoration visited the Gaborone Cemetery in Extension 14 where Modise was joined by the South African High Commissioner to Botswana Mdu Lembede in laying wreaths in memory of the fallen heroes and heroines.
Most of the freedom fighters who were in exile are buried in this cemetery.
Narrating his ordeal to those in attendance, Nathaniel Mooketsi Serache who survived the June 14 attack when the then South African Defence Force (SANDF) crossed the borders illegally and indiscriminately attacked innocent people in Gaborone, leaving 12 South Africa and Botswana nationals dead and scores seriously injured, said 1985 was the year that Botswana really demonstrated its undivided support to South Africans.
“I am lucky to have survived that dreadful attack as the house I was sleeping in that night was bombed, and that nothing was left of it except rubbles. As a result of that, I am often referred to as the one who rose from the dead.” Serache said.
He said that Botswana was at the forefront of making sure that South Africa is liberated, and assisted some of them to get the best medical treatment ever.
The Executive Mayor of the City of Gaborone, Cllr Kagiso Thutlwe said Botswana was proud to have played a significant role in the fight against apartheid, and that through this commemoration, people from these two countries must be more united and tolerant towards one another.
These sentiments were shared by the Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders in Botswana, Kgosi Gaborone, who said it was important to revisit the history of the struggle, and draw inspiration from the courage of those who died while in exile.
The 30th commemoration of the Gaborone June 14 raid was attended by amongst others, South African High Commissioners to other SADC countries, Ambassadors, and the delegation from the North West Province led by MEC Tebogo Modise.
THE North West premier, Supra Mahumapelo in conjunction with The High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa Mr Mdu Lembede will conduct a memorial lecture in honour of the late stalwart ZK Mathews at Moeding College in Otse, in Botswana on Friday.
Mahumapelo will also be part of the30th anniversary for commemoration of the 1985 Gaborone Massacre that will take place on Saturday. Those who are expected to attend the event, include government ministers from Botswana and South Africa.
Provincial acting spokesperson, Brian Setswambung said the move to honour Professor ZK Mathews and commemorate the Gaborone Massacre emanates from Mahumapelo’s State of the Province Address (SOPA) in March this year, which he directed that various activities and programmes will be initiated to honour cadres who passed away while on their way to and from exile.
“Subsequently, the Liberation Heritage Route Project was launched at Lobatla village in April this year with a view to document the history of the struggle launched through the province, and honour heroes and heroines who used this route to cross into Botswana on their way to other parts of the world as they resisted apartheid,” Setswambung said.
He further said the 1985 Gaborone Massacre took place on June 14 in 1985 when members of the then South African Defence Force (SANDF) crossed into Botswana and attacked South Africans and Batswana in Gaborone and neighbouring villages and twelve people died during the raid.
JOHANNESBURG – To add insult to injury, South Africa has dropped drastically in the latest World Rugby rankings, this following heir shocking loss to Japan in their opening game of the Rugby World Cupon Saturday.
The Springboks went into the tournament as the third best team in the world behind defending World Champions New Zealand and Australia, but wins for World Cup hosts England, Wales and Ireland have seen the three nations leapfrog ahead of Heyneker Meyer’s men.
Kaizer Chiefs midfielder George Lebese admits he has his eye on the MTN8 top goalscorer award, but as long as Amakhosi defend the trophy.
Chiefs are into the Final following a 2-1 aggregate victory over Bloemfontein Celtic after Lebese’s solitary goal gave them a 2-1 win in the semi-final, second leg on Saturday night.
Lebese is now on three goals for the tournament, with Bidvest Wits duo Sibusiso Vilakazi (2) and Henrico Botes (2) the other main contenders.
Congress National Committee which is Cope’s highest decision making body in between congresses has as per the directives of the extra-ordinary national congress in June, adopted a ground-breaking constitution.
The new constitution, in our view, stands above the constitutions of other political parties in South Africa.
Cope spokesperson, Dennis Bloem said: “It allows the rank and file membership to directly elect its President. This is consistent with our call, since inception, that the President of South Africa, the premiers and all mayors should be elected directly by the people.”
He said Cope members, not delegates as is currently the norm, will now exercise the right to decide who should be their President. Voting will take place through the use of modern communication technology.
Bloem said South Africa will remember that that Cope was the first political party in the history of our country to hold a successful National Conference where all decisions were taken by using an electronic voting system.
“We are now poised to change the political landscape of the country for the better. To this end we will assume our rightful position in the politics of our country.
“We are pleased to announce that our election machinery is in place. We have also formulated our strategies and plans for the forthcoming local government elections. These elections will be an acid test of our resolve to achieve renewal and to make progress,” he said.
The CNC also expressed concern about the state of our economy. Cope said job losses and spiralling unemployment remain a challenge which begs a common response from all South African voters irrespective of party affiliation.
“Cope will continue to lead the way. We will intensify our campaigns to defend the Judiciary and chapter 9 institutions. This includes the office of the Public Protector which has had to contend with an unprecedented barrage of attacks from the ruling party alliance.
“We also condemn the senseless killings of our police officers whose sterling work cannot be overemphasised. We note from media reports that in past weekend at least two police officers were killed,” Bloem said.
THE newly elected ANC Women’s League general Meokgo Matuba says she was humbled by the trust put in her by the women of South Africa and has promised to do her best in representing their interests.
Matuba was one of the new leaders elected at the ANCWL’s recent congress.
The Kanana-born politicians had to relinquish her post of league secretary in the North West as she moves to Luthuli House in Johannesburg.
“The election is not about me, it is about people who have said they want me to change the lives of women in SA and that is what I intend to do for the duration of my tenure,” she said.
Matuba has served in different capacities within the ruling party and government.
“I started as a provincial administrator where I served the party for 10 years. I then moved to government as personal assistant to former premier, Edna Molewa. I was deployed to various municipalities including Ventersdorp, and Greater Taung where I held various positions.
“In party politics, I have held several positions in the ANC and the league at regional and provincial levels but I became the provincial league secretary in 2013, a position I have to leave now.”
Matuba said her immediate task was to make sure she lead in rebuilding ANCWL’s structures across SA and championed women’s rights.
“There is an additional task to develop, empower and emancipate women in women in our communities and society irrespective of their political affiliation, race of creed. I want people to understand that ANCWL is not a league for the elite but for every woman in South Africa, Africa and the world,” she said.
Matuba holds an honours degree in management and she said experience had taught her what to expect when leading a mass-based organisation.
The ANC in North West congratulated Matuba and the ANCWL leadership collective, wishing them well in their mandate.
Provincial ANC secretary Dakota Legoete said: “The ruling party would also like to congratulate the newly elected top five of the Women’s League led by comrade Bathabile Dlamini.
“We also commend comrade Angie Motshekga who has led this movement with diligence despite the administrative turbulence of the past seven years making it difficult for the conference to be held on time.”
Legoete said the North West was proud to have Matuba in such a high position to have Matuba in such a high position in the party. “We are convinced the new leadership will lead women in the celebration of National Women’s Day as they will be treading in the footsteps of those who marched against the apartheid pass laws when it was easier said than done,”
(Courtesy of The NewAge newspaper)
The Guardian 