Sports minister Tokozile Xasa will run the rule over the South African Football Association’s plans for Banyana Banyana’s maiden appearance at the Fifa Women’s World Cup in France next year.
Banyana qualified for the tournament after they finished second behind Nigeria at the recent Africa Women Cup of Nations in Ghana.
They have been drawn in a tough group against Germany‚ Spain and China at the Fifa World Cup.
“We have to make interventions to make sure that our girls get good preparation‚ that’s why we are needed‚” Xasa said.
“You can’t just discard us as politicians and think that we are not relevant.
“We want to see where we can support them because we cannot as a country let the girls down. They are flying our flag high.
“We are very careful not to be seen to be interfering, but we have a responsibility as government to make sure that bodies that use public money understand what the mandate of government is.
“There is that thin line that says why politics would come into sport.
“If you look at the world today‚ sports bodies subscribe to international bodies but they exist within a country.
“They operate within the mandate of the country.
“So there is that relationship that needs to be built between ourselves and the organisations that are responsible for sport.”
“In the world today‚ although it is behind-the-scenes‚ politics has a big influence and you can’t run away from that.”
Safa said Banyana would play against a top European team who have qualified for the World Cup.
Banyana face Sweden in Cape Town on January 19 and 22 2019‚ and the US on May 12 2019 at Levi’s Stadium in California. They will also play a closed-door training match with Sweden.
The South Africans open their World Cup campaign against Spain in La Havre on June 7 before making the trip to the capital, Paris, to take on China on June 13.
They complete the group stages against Germany in Montpellier on June 17.
● Xasa is set to meet Safa to discuss its plans to step in as emergency hosts to replace Cameroon for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019.
The two parties were due to meet on Monday during an indaba of ministers and members of the executive councils but the meeting did not take place.