7 August 2025- The South African Under-17 men’s national team will go into camp at the end of the month ahead of their participation in the CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations. The tournament will be staged in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 11-20 September 2025 and the team will go into camp in Johannesburg on 29 August 2025.
They will depart for Harare on 8 September 2025. The draw for the tournament was conducted this week and the South Africans were drawn in Group B against Zambia, Madagascar and Malawi.
Only the top team in each group and the best second-placed side will progress to semi-finals. Group rivals and long-time adversaries, Zambia are the defending champions and the most successful side in the tournament’s history. The squad for the tournament will be announced in the coming days and the South African Football Association (SAFA) will also communicate further details about the logistics for the event.
CAF UNDER-17 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS | COSAFA QUALIFIERS 2026
8 December 2024- The SPAR Proteas will begin their final assignment of the year in Swakopmund, Namibia on Monday as they take on the best of the continent at the Africa Netball Cup. The South Africans have been drawn in Pool 1 for the December 9-14 tournament alongside the team they recently just beat 3-0 in a home series, Malawi, as well as Zambia and Kenya.
Pool 2 contains world number six Uganda, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Eswatini and Lesotho.
The SPAR Proteas Head Coach, Jenny van Dyk said playing against African sides is by no means an easy task. Van Dyk said Uganda have become one of the powerhouses on the continent in recent years and we predict that her side is likely to meet the She Cranes in the Africa Netball Cup final next Saturday.
“We are very aware of Uganda, we respect them as a team and they’ve done brilliantly,” she said before the team’s departure.
“It’s a team that you beat once and the next time they come back with a vengeance and we are very aware of that… We are making sure to do our homework,” she said.
Van Dyk further said the last time the two nations met was at the Netball World Cup in Cape Town last year, where the SPAR Proteas beat Uganda. She added that She Cranes then bounced back to defeat the home side later in the tournament to secure 5th place.
Captain Khanyisa Chawane believes that’s unlikely to happen again.
“I think it’s more mental than anything because of what they’ve done. You can really fall into a hole of thinking that it’s quite difficult. But it’s not a team to fear,” she said.
“It’s a team that we’ve beaten before and yes, they may have the confidence that they’ve done it before, but they don’t know the type of team that we are now and we take confidence in that, especially in how strong our team are and how we’ve grown from the World Cup until now,” she said.
Chawane said she is looking forward to going out there and giving them something different that they don’t expect.
Meanwhile, the SPAR Proteas vice-captain, Karla Pretorious believes the Africa Netball Cup will provide her side with valuable experience of playing teams on the continent, who have a completely different style to the likes of the top four teams in the world, Australia, England, New Zealand, and Jamaica.
“That African style of athleticism and the fact that they never stop, which is very unique to us African players, is something that’s always been a challenge. But we’re fully aware of it. It’s about how we do our homework and execute the game plan,” she said.
Picture: One of the firearms seized by the police during raid/Supplied
By OBAKENG MAJE
More than 43 foreign nationals from Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, were arrested at Klerksdorp Landfill Site during a cordon and search operation on 27 March 2024.
The suspects were arrested by a multi-disciplinary team comprising various South African Police Service (SAPS) units, including Vala Umgodi deployment group, South African National Defence Force (SANDF), the Hawks, Department of Home Affairs, Matlosana Local Traffic and Harmony Gold Mine Security.
North West police spokesperson, Lieutenant Col, Amanda Funani said: “This culminated in the arrest of 44 suspected undocumented foreign nationals. The police arrested 35 suspects from Lesotho, 5 from Zimbabwe, 3 from Mozambique and 1 from Malawi.
“Of the arrested suspects, two were held for unlawful possession of firearms, unlawful possession of ammunition, possession of suspected stolen property, while the third one was held for unlawful possession of ammunition.”
Funani further said the police seized two firearms, 157 empty cartridges, ammunition, eight small rolls of copper cables, two cell phones, one Penduka machine and 16 040kg of gold bearing material with an estimated value of R240 000. She added that the arrested suspects are due to appear before the Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court on 2 April 2024.
Meanwhile, the North West police spokesperson, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, thanked all role players for their collaborative efforts that led to the arrests and seizures.
The Guardian 