The switching on of the Christmas lights in Adderley Street normally signals the start of the festive season in Cape Town.
But this year Bafana Bafana ushered in the season to be jolly in the Mother City by thumping a hapless South Sudan 3-0 in front of a packed and festive Cape Town Stadium crowd with a ruthless display of football.
The South Africans had already qualified for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco before they had kicked a ball during this international break. Many thought they would maybe take their foot off the pedal because they had achieved their objective and their remaining matches against Uganda and South Sudan would be a bit of drab.
But this is a different Bafana under coach Hugo Broos with a different mentality. They wanted two wins to top the group and get a favourable seeding for the AFCON draw.
The opening goal from Rayners was such a thing of beauty 😍 👌![CDATA[]]>🏾 pic.twitter.com/hr9Q7IoShM
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) November 19, 2024
They went to Uganda last Friday and wiped the floor with the Cranes, before heading to Cape Town, where almost 50,000 came out to see their heroes for the first time in almost a decade.
And the team delivered in emphatic fashion, blowing the visitors off the park with a professional outing. The match ended up being so one-side that the camera crew hardly had panned towards the Bafana goal.
In fact, at one stage captain and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams joined Botha in a getting the crowd going with singing and clapping, as his teammates camped out in the South Sudan half.
Williams was subbed off with about 20 minutes to go on the occasion of his 50th appearance for Bafana. A standing ovation capped off a wonderful year for the leader of the team, who guided SA to third place at the Afcon in Ivory Coast at the start of the year and an unbeaten run in the qualifiers for Morocco.
Bafana finished top of Group K by a single point from Uganda because of their unbeaten record.
Here is the second from Maswanganyi pic.twitter.com/9htcegEgMl
Tuesday’s match was Bafana's first game in Cape Town since their friendly match against Angola in 2015. And to say the people were hungry to see their heroes - especially in the Broos era - is an understatement.
Bafana certainly made up for lost time and entertained the near capacity crowd with a performance worthy of the occasion.
Cape Town-born Iqraam Rayners got the party started when slotted home from close range in the sixth minute after a lovely square ball by Oswin Appolis.
Midfielder Patrick Maswanganyi, who is playing in the No 10 role in the absence of the injured Themba Zwane, scored the second in the 23rd minute. The Orlando Pirates man got his foot to a loose ball in the opposition penalty area after a fumble by South Sudan goalkeeper Mawith Majak.
Bafana had a lot of chances in the second half, but they can be forgiven for deciding to just hold onto the ball for much of it against opponents who were just in containment mode, trying to keep the score down.
But the home side did manage to get a third in the second half when Teboho Mokoena converted a penalty in the 51st minute to send the home crowd in raptures.
It was a lovely way for Bafana to sign off the year. Now they can look forward to the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers next year knowing that they have already ticked off one big box.
However, in Cape Town, the party started, knowing the festive season is here.
@JohnGoliath82