Maema, Lepasa Included In CHAN Squad As Ntseki Leads South Africa

Neo Maema (Mamelodi Sundowns) and Zakhele Lepasa (Orlando Pirates), who have recently found themselves out of favor at their respective clubs, have been selected in the Bafana Bafana squad for the upcoming African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament.

Coach Molefi Ntseki will lead the national team representing the country at CHAN.

The CHAN tournament will be held across three East African nations – Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda – from 2-30 August. SAFA has confirmed Ntseki will be at the helm, having already announced the squad that will compete next month. Ntseki expressed his enthusiasm for leading the team in this continental event.

“We just want to take this opportunity to thank the SAFA Technical Committee for giving us the opportunity to lead this team in the CHAN tournament. We have assembled a team that will represent South Africa,” he stated.

“We are in Group C, and the team we have selected is mostly composed of the players we started this journey with. So, we are looking forward to the tournament and to doing our best. We just want to say thanks to the clubs and to the coaches who managed to release players for our CHAN team to have a good squad going into the tournament.”

SAFA Technical Committee Chairman Jack Maluleke explained that coach Ntseki was given the opportunity to “finish what he started” after qualifying the team earlier this year. “He got us to this stage of the journey, and it is only right that he completes the job in the CHAN tournament itself,” Maluleke said. South Africa secured their spot in the tournament by defeating Egypt and Malawi in previous qualification rounds.

The national team will assemble in Johannesburg on Friday, 25 July, for a training camp before departing for Uganda on Sunday, 3 August. The tournament kicks off on Saturday, 2 August, in Dar es Salaam with a match between co-host Tanzania and Burkina Faso at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.

South Africa has been drawn in Group C alongside Uganda, Niger, Guinea, and Algeria. Ntseki’s side will play their opening match against Algeria on Friday, 8 August.