After the Banyana rebellion, what it all meant as World Cup kickoff looms

Portia Modise’s tongue is as sharp as the feet she used to score 101 goals for Banyana Banyana in 124 matches. 

Modise’s feet might have made her a legend, as the only African footballer to score 100 goals for their national team, but it’s her tongue that has made her an icon. The 40-year-old has spent the better part of her life fighting for the better treatment of Banyana Banyana. 

“Bashin”, as she is affectionately known, watched Banyana’s latest fight with the South African Football Association (Safa) with a sense of pride and hurt. She was proud the players stood their ground for the whole continent to see, when they boycotted their send-off match against Botswana at Tsakane Stadium. 

The national team beat fellow World Cup qualifiers Costa Rica 2-0 in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Saturday. That result raises hopes that their fight they took to Safa, instead of deflating them, could have stirred a tiger inside the team for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The 54th-ranked Banyana are up against it in group G against third-ranked heavyweights Sweden, who they open their tournament against in Wellington on Sunday; Italy (ranked 16th) and Argentina (28th). 

Banyana squared off against Safa over their World Cup bonuses, also fighting for respect, arguing that Tsakane Stadium was not a venue fit to host the African champions, many of them based at top women’s clubs around the world, and who were heading to represent the continent in a global showpiece; and that 150th-ranked Botswana were not ideal opponents ahead of such a competitive event. What hurt Modise was that the current generation was fighting over issues her class also fought for more than a decade ago. 

“This has been happening for years,” Modise said. “Some of us are not surprised with what happened. You guys [the media] are the ones who are surprised because every time when we speak about this, it becomes a talking point for two minutes and then you move on to another story and we forget about it. 

“We need to be consistent, talk about it. How do we fix it? It is still going to haunt us in the future if we don’t fix what happened with Banyana Banyana. 

“I am glad they did what they did, and I wasn’t surprised because what we have been going through as women footballers is too much. I have been speaking about these challenges for a long time.” 

At the core of Banyana’s fight is respect. Money might have fuelled the flame that elicited their rage, but the spark that lit everything is being disrespected by the association.

During Modise’s days Banyana players used to wear Bafana Bafana hand-me-down kits and earned peanuts. Some of the voices that should have fought for Banyana, like former Safa vice-president Ria Ledwaba, were among those pulling the team down.

Around 2005 Ledwaba, then chair of Safa’s women’s football committee, said Banyana players needed to attend etiquette classes because “they need to learn how to be ladies”. Modise hit back at Ledwaba with her sharp tongue, saying people who should have been looking after their wellbeing were more concerned with how the players looked than how much they are paid.

“What we have been going through as women footballers is too much. I have been speaking about these challenges for a long time,” Modise said. 

The situation has improved slightly. Sasol has injected millions to support Banyana and organising the Sasol League, a provincial league that comprises 144 teams. In 2019, Safa launched a national league sponsored by Hollywoodbets. 

“Hollywoodbets is doing its bit, but we still get issues where teams are not getting their grants,” Modise said. “We still see problems of teams travelling for 42 hours to play 90 minutes. We still find teams that tell you they slept on the bus. It looks good from a distance, but if you look closer we still have the same problems. 

“If you look at PSL, they have several sponsors. So what makes people think we can maintain the league with just one sponsor? And another sponsor, Sasol, is not only maintaining the Sasol Leagues but also Banyana. It tells you we still have a long way to go.” 

Until we have a permanent solution, these things are still going to happen. This isn’t the last time we are going to be talking about financial issues with Banyana Banyana. More is still coming.

—  Portia Modise

One of the issues that has hamstrung the growth of women’s football in the country is the lack of participation from the Premier Soccer League (PSL) who manage professional football in the country. Mamelodi Sundowns bucked that trend with their women’s team, investing in the side, which led to them winning the inaugural Caf Women’s Champions League. 

TS Galaxy and Royal AM have also invested in women’s teams recently. Other clubs have been forced into it with Caf making it mandatory for teams that participate in their competitions to have a women’s side. 

But there is a loophole in that clause. If teams align themselves with an existing women’s team, they can play continental football, which is what Orlando Pirates, Sekhukhune United and SuperSport United have done. 

If these alignments are done with genuine intentions, women’s football will grow in the country as PSL clubs can share resources and offer the women’s teams more support and money. But if it’s just window dressing, these issues will persist. 

Modise has called for more investment in schools football to nurture girls from an early age to create a clear pipeline to the senior national team. Fran Hilton-Smith, a legendary administrator who has served in various capacities at Banyana and Safa, supports that too. She goes further to say each province should have a high performance centre like the one in Pretoria that nurtured 10 of the 23 Banyana players in the World Cup squad. 

Banyana’s appearance in their second successive World Cup shows there is talent in the country, and with more investment and respect given to the women’s game things could drastically improve. 

Modise, however, isn’t holding her breath. “I have been advocating for change, and I was happy to see this generation saying, ‘Enough is enough!’ and laying the foundation for the future generation to have it better than them,” she said. 

“Until we have a permanent solution, these things are still going to happen. This isn’t the last time we are going to be talking about financial issues with Banyana Banyana. More is still coming.” 

And rest assured that Modise will use her sharp tongue to fight against that injustice should it occur.