#EditorsNote: Siyaya eFrance once again thanks to Banyana Banyana
|Published
Siyaya eFrance once again!
Thanks to Banyana Banyana’s heroics, South Africa will make a welcome return to a country that carries a big chapter of our football history.
The national women’s team demolished Mali 2-0 in the semi-final of the 2018 Women’s Afcon on Tuesday to qualify for the World Cup, 20 years after Bafana Bafana made their first appearance in the prestigious tournament that France hosted in 1998.
Ironically, Banyana Banyana will also be playing in their maiden World Cup finals tournament in the land of fine wine and cheese in June next year.
Banyana’s historic achievement has brought back memories about the days when Bafana were rated among the best.
The days when Benni McCarthy was scoring goals for fun. The good old days when Bafana were still in the top 20 best football-playing nations in the world and playing before full stadiums.
The Bafana of that era played with a lot of heart and were lauded and rewarded for flying the flag high.
I hope that Safa and the corporate world will extend the same generosity to the Banyana superstars.
It is criminal that South African sport is still largely guilty of practising unequal pay for the same hard work on the field which sees sportswomen getting far less than their male counterparts. This should be red-carded.
Banyana have handed Safa the perfect platform to start the ball rolling in bringing equality. Banyana are said to be paid on average a paltry R5000 per match while the underperforming Bafana take home R50 000-R70 000 for a win and about R30 000 for a draw.
One Twitter user suggested Bafana and Banyana swop budgets. I agree.
It’s remarkable how, despite this discrimination, Banyana have still managed to raise the bar of excellence.
No matter what happens in the final, Banyana have already played their way into the history books.
Congratulations to Desiree and your mighty warriors. We eagerly await your arrival with the gold!
Phathisani Moyo is The Star news editor