{"id":33509,"date":"2026-05-01T18:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=33509"},"modified":"2026-05-01T18:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:34:13","slug":"sa-rallies-behind-bafana-bafana-as-fan-campaign-builds-momentum","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-rallies-behind-bafana-bafana-as-fan-campaign-builds-momentum\/","title":{"rendered":"SA rallies behind Bafana Bafana as fan campaign builds momentum \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A fan-driven campaign to rally support for Bafana Bafana is gaining momentum, led by South African Football Association\u2019s (SAFA) Commercial and Marketing Manager Errol Madlala, the same man who helped mobilise supporters ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Madlala is urging South Africans, both at home and abroad, to get behind the national team in the build-up to their next fixtures. He says the goal is simple: make sure players feel the support, no matter where fans are in the world.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery Bafana Friday, we want fans to show their love for the team,\u201d he said. \u201cSouth Africans everywhere can be part of it, even if they\u2019re overseas. Jerseys can be delivered anywhere, and with social media, players will see that support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He added that unlike in 2010, fans now have more ways to connect with the team and each other, making it easier to build excitement ahead of match day.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bafana Bafana are expected to face Nicaragua and Puerto Rico in friendly matches before their opener against Mexico, although those fixtures are yet to be confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12715,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-33509","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"A fan-driven campaign to rally support for Bafana Bafana is gaining momentum","published_date":"2026-05-01 17:58:22","news_description":"A fan-driven campaign to rally support for Bafana Bafana is gaining momentum","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33510,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33509\/revisions\/33510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=33509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}