Banyana Banyana’s 2023 women’s World Cup squad is set to travel to New Zealand this evening, after a dispute with The South Africa Football Association, SAFA has been resolved.
The announcement was made in a press conference at Hilton Sandton in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 5 July 2023.
The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions expressed their concerns around appearance and bonus fees.
SAFA and Banyana – who were supported by the South African Football Players Union (SAFPU), were at loggerheads over several issues, including the payment structure for the global showpiece.
Other issues raised was the state of Tsakane Stadium for Banyana’s farewell friendly match against Botswana, queries around the technical team and apparel, which resulted in the World Cup-bound squad not playing against Botswana.
The Motsepe Foundation, founded by Confederation of African Football (Caf) president and billionaire Patrice Motsepe and his wife Precious Motsepe, pledged R6 million, while Ithuba contributed R2 million towards the team.
During the press conference, it was confirmed that the R565 000 FIFA appearance fee will be paid out to each player, while an additional R230 000 top-up bonus per player will also be granted.
Speaking at the press conference, Precious Motsepe said that “this moment is about us paying lip service when it comes to gender equality” saying it has mostly been “rhetoric” with no action.
Motsepe encouraged the squad to continue to “speak up” about gender inequalities.
“We will not be dictating how they use the money, but it is to support the team to ensure that they have all the facilities and requirements that they will need. When we got the call of opportunity to be part of this, we jumped onto that, it was last minute,” said Ithuba representative Michelle Trotsenburg.
Desiree Ellis and her charges will now shift focus on facing Costa Rica in their final warm-up match on 15 July, before beginning their World Cup campaign against Sweden on 23 July.
Half of the team will fly out to New Zealand on Wednesday night, and the rest on Thursday.
Australia and New Zealand are co-hosting the 2023 World Cup from Thursday, July 20.
