Safa names venue for Bafana matches against Namibia, DR Congo

Orlando Stadium has been revealed as the venue that will host Bafana Bafana's matches against Namibia and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) next month.

Bafana meet the two nations as part of their preparation for the start of the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers in November and the African Cup of Nations finals in Ivory Coast from January 13.

The Soweto venue was confirmed by South African Football Association (Safa) CEO Lydia Monyepao on Tuesday. Bafana meet Namibia on September 9 (3pm) and DRC on September 12 (5pm).

Bafana have predominantly played home games in Gauteng over the past few years, and there have been complaints from supporters from other provinces.

In the past year two of the national team's matches were staged outside Gauteng, when they hosted Mozambique and Angola in friendlies in Mbombela November. This excludes Cosafa Cup matches where a Bafana 'C' team played in Durban in the past two editions.

Monyepao said Safa attempted to take the upcoming Bafana matches to venues outside Gauteng, but no other province was willing to come on board by covering the costs of moving Bafana and their opponents there. 

“We started by engaging other provinces first, solely because we are trying to address that issue where people always say Bafana is always playing in Gauteng,” she said.