Ronwen Williams backs Amajita stars for Bafana future, singles out Emile Witbooi

Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams has lauded African champions Amajita for qualifying for the 2027 Under-20 AFCON and sees some players breaking into the senior national team, while reserving special praise for Emile Witbooi.

The Cape Town City FC winger scored a sensational goal on Friday to seal a 4-2 win over Zambia in the COSAFA Under-20 Championship semi-finals in Mozambique. It was a result that took Amajita into the final of the regional competition and earned them a ticket to the Under-20 AFCON to be hosted by Ghana. 

They will land in the West African country as defending champions after winning the continental tournament in 2025. They will also seek to return to the 2027 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, jointly hosted by Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

After watching Amajita’s impressive run in Mozambique, Williams sees a bright future for Raymond Mdaka’s boys. The current crop of the South Africa Under-20s are pressing to emulate Shandre Campbell and Tylon Smith, who were at the 2024 COSAFA Championship and have since broken into the Bafana fold.

RONWEN WILLIAMS TIPS AMAJITA STARS FOR BAFANA BREAKTHROUGH, HAILS WITBOOI

What makes Amajita impressive is that they did not concede a single goal in the group stage while scoring seven goals in three games in the COSAFA Cup so far. That has left Williams blown away as Mdaka’s side now prepares to take on hosts Mozambique in the final on Sunday afternoon [today]. 

“It’s amazing. First and foremost, congratulations to the Under-20 team, Amajita, for what they have done. For qualifying [for U-20 AFCON] again, back-to-back,” Williams told the media.

“Those are the steps that you want to take. To be there, be a constant feature there, and they’ve done that now again. When you saw the fourth goal from Emile Witbooi dribbling past so many players, and then slotting the ball in the back of the net, amazing.

“You know the boy, high-quality player. You see it week in, week out at Cape Town City. But the team that they have got in a few years’ time, some of them will be knocking on the national team door. 

“You know, we have got a coach [Pitso Mosimane] who mentioned, in his previous press conference, that he will be keeping his eye on them [youngsters]. So, they need to keep working hard, go out there and win AFCON again, and then definitely in a few years’ time, months’ time for some of them, they’ll be part of us. 

“They don’t need to look further than our team. So, they need to keep going. They have kept the country’s flag very high. We are definitely happy for them, and we wish them all the best at AFCON.”

RELATED STORY: Raymond Mdaka explains Emile Witbooi’s delayed arrival at Amajita camp