5 January 2024 – The South African senior national men’s team gathered in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, on the first day of camp ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) this month.
The Bafana Bafana players and team personnel joined the camp and then travelled to Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape, on Friday (5 January 2024) in preparation of the continental tournament to be held in Côte d’Ivoire from 13 January to 11 February 2024.
Coach Hugo Broos named his final 23-man squad in late December and the wine lands – at the University of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape – will now be the venue for the start of the preparations ahead of the event.
“I am happy that all the players are present with three (Jaden Adams, Oswin Appollis and Mihlali Mayambela) joining us in Cape Town, and we will then have a full squad. I’m confident in my team, the upbeat spirit among them and the big smiles presented on arrival in camp is encouraging,” the Bafana Bafana coach said.
“If this is anything to go by, it is the start of what is going to be a successful campaign. But we have hard work ahead of us, there is no doubt about that.”
The team will be based in Stellenbosch from 5-9 January 2024. They will travel back to Johannesburg on the morning of 10 January to play a friendly match against Lesotho behind closed doors at the Lucas Moripe Stadium. They will then head to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 11 January and finally settle at their base camp in Korhogo on 12 January 2024 ahead of the start of the tournament on the following day.