From champions of Africa to the chance to grow your skills beyond football – it seems like the rewards keep on coming for Banyana Banyana. The University of South Africa (Unisa) has awarded the 23-woman WAFCON winning squad bursary opportunities to study the qualification of their choice as per admission requirements.
The Special Bursary programme will take effect from January 2023 onward and in a statement by the university, Vice-Chancellor and Principal Puleng LenkaBula congratulates the team on their achievements.
“The historic victory of South Africa in the African football scene after twenty-six years is very inspirational to Unisa, the youth, and South Africa as a whole,” said LenkaBula. She hopes that the achievement reached by Banyana Banyana would hope to inspire the next generation of young boys and girls to believe in sport, virtue of discipline and excellence.
Mixed Reactions on Social Media
However, there has been a mixed reaction to the bursary news on social media. Many students were celebrating that the players will receive an opportunity to study at the university, but a minority of students have spoke out about how the funding could have been used for students who were more deserving or were initially unable to fund their Unisa studies.
Additionally, a number of provinces have slowly started to reward players on their achievements, like:
- Gauteng’s Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation have set aside R3.2 million towards Banyana Banyana (R1 million) and the development of grassroots female football in the region.
- Banyana Banyana’s Limpopo-born players (5 in total) will each receive R100 000 for their WAFCON exploits
- Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced that the ministry would commit R5.8 million to Banyana’s bonus kitty.
Details on the special bursary programme structure will be communicated to the South African Football Association (SAFA) and the public in the near future.
Published: 01 August 2022
