Gayton McKenzie, Minister of Sports Arts and Culture during the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 2026 match between South Africa and Nigeria at Free State Stadium, in Bloemfontein on 09 September 2025 ©Phakamisa Lensman/BackpagePix
Minister of Sports, Arts and Recreation Gayton McKenzie on Tuesday announced that Bafana Bafana’s players would be given a R5 million bonus ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals and the 2026 Fifa World Cup finals.
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“R5 million will be going to the players in preparation for the African Nations Cup and the World Cup,” McKenzie told a media session at Freedom Park in Pretoria.
Safa ‘Mokoena-gate’ investigation over
McKenzie also said that the South African Football Association have completed their investigation into the administrative blunder that led to Bafana being docked three points during World Cup qualifying.
Bafana fielded Teboho Mokoena in a World Cup qualifier against Lesotho in March, when the midfielder was supposed to be suspended after picking up two yellow cards earlier in the group stages. Fifa reversed the 2-0 win in that game for Bafana, as per their rules handing a 3-0 win to Lesotho.
Hugo Broos’ Bafana ended up making it to the World Cup finals anyway, but the mistake could have been disastrous. McKenzie confirmed that Bafana team manager Vincent Tseka had taken responsibility for the error, but said there were mitigating circumstances.
“SAFA has complied with my request and has completed its investigation. They provided me with a very comprehensive investigation, and I can report today that we now have full clarity on what happened,” said McKenzie.
“The report confirms this was not an act of negligence or sabotage, but rather a strange, highly unusual set of coincidences.
“The two yellow cards issued to Teboho Mokoena came 16 months apart, an almost unheard of gap. The team manager Vincent Tseka, who has taken responsibility for that oversight despite numerous excruciating circumstances, was not present when the second card was issued as he had left the field to fetch ice for the players.
‘Bafana are still under-resourced’
“That extraordinary coincidence tells us something deeper that our national team is operating under immense strain. Despite the tremendous progress on the field and positive results, Bafana Bafana are still under-resourced.”
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McKenzie also announced bonuses for other football teams that have been successful. Banyana Banyana have been handed a R1 million bonus, as have the Under-20 side, after they reached the knockout rounds at the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Chile.
The Under-17 side, meanwhile, currently playing at the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Qatar, have been given R500 000
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