With police presence, the team was once again welcomed by fans singing and celebrating their win and homecoming at Union Buildings.
President Cyril Ramaphosa with Minister of sports, Nathi Mthethwa welcomed home the WAFCON winning team.
The team was invited to Union Buildings in Pretoria to present their trophy to the president on Wednesday to celebrate their historic women’s AFCON triumph.
Banyana Banyana made history on Saturday night when they won 2-1 against Morocco, winning South Africa’s first-ever WAFCON trophy. The win came after 5 attempts.
In honouring the team, the president said that it was symbolic to have the trophy presented at Union Buildings. This symbolized resilience and determination that the women that marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 to oppose proposed apartheid laws with the resilience and great determination the team had and showed as well.
Ramaphosa quoted the team when they said they promised to bring back the trophy and congratulated them for bringing it home, where jt belonged.
In light of the news circulating that women get paid less than men, the president addressed the inequality issue.
He said in his speech to the teach that they deserved equal pay for equal work that they do.
“I’ve been told that you get 10x less than what the men get when they play and that has to come to an end”, said Ramaphosa.
Further adding, “we are a non-racial democratic and non- sexist country. I am hugely opposed to unequal pay and it must come to an end. We must demonstrate our appreciation for you with regard to the pay you should get “.
The president said with discussions with the minster of finance, the team would get added remuneration, more than what the minister of sport presented as they were also deserving of equal pay.
