Two contrasting images recently floated around on social media. One showed South Africa’s senior men’s rugby team, the Springboks, strutting their stuff against Argentina in front of almost 50,000 onlookers. On that same day, their football counterparts Bafana Bafana faced West Africa’s Sierra Leone — in front of a crowd which was comfortably fewer than 500 people.

Granted, the two occasions were at opposite ends of the significance spectrum. The Springboks were playing in a competitive match and still had an opportunity to wrest the Rugby Championship from New Zealand’s grasp.

As such, there were expectations of sweet success from the 45,000-plus crowd that flocked to Durban’s Kings Park and almost filled it to capacity. If only Australia had done Jacques Nienaber’s charges a favour by beating their neighbours. Alas.

Meanwhile, at the FNB stadium in Johannesburg Bafana were playing their first match since being thrashed 5-0 by France in another international friendly encounter. They also lost to Morocco in their opening 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier back in June.

Nothing new

Even as Bafana Bafana almost defied the odds and reached the final stage of 2022 Fifa World Cup qualification last year, there was sporadic interest in their matches.

That run, though littered with some scrappy triumphs along the way, saw South Africa’s senior men’s football side win four, draw one and lose one of their qualifiers.

They ended up on the same number of points as Ghana (13) after their six matches — before ultimately losing out on topping the group by virtue of having scored one fewer goal than the Black Stars.

Of course, the Springboks have been far from convincing in 2022 — putting on below-par (by their world-class standards in any case) performances in the Championship.

However, there is the small matter of the Boks being three-time World Cup winners. Bafana Bafana boast only one Afcon title as a major accolade.

Springbok Makazole Mapimpi acknowledges fans after The Rugby Championship match against Argentina at Kings Park in Durban on 24 September 2022. (Photo: Darren Stewart / Gallo Images / Getty Images)

The Boks also boast some of the best players in the world currently. They possess players such as Lukhanyo Am, Siya Kolisi, Malcolm Marx, Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi as drawcards.

For Bafana, players of the calibre of Benni McCarthy and Steven Pienaar have long retired and have not been replaced.

In fact, the last time Bafana Bafana even qualified for a World Cup was when the country hosted the global showpiece in 2010. Tasked with doing it the hard way, they have missed out in 2014, 2018 and now again in 2022.

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos recently admitted that though his side had felt a positive shift in energy from the usual indifference towards themselves as they fought hard to qualify for the World Cup.

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However, since this most recent qualification failure, he feels that people have once again lost interest in the national team. That drubbing at the hands of France did them no favours either.

“People believed in the team during the World Cup qualifiers. This has disappeared a little bit. You see, hear and read more criticism than positive things. So, it’s up to us now to reverse that situation and regain the confidence of everybody,” said Broos.

This was prior to those two lowly attended victories over fellow minnows Sierra Leone and Botswana. In front of those sparse crowds in Johannesburg and Durban, the team won 4-0 and 1-0 respectively. The latter win was far from convincing, demonstrating just why people choose to abstain from watching the team in the first place.

Though, in their defence in that particular instance, Broos had chosen a completely different team to the one that thumped the Lone Stars.

The Belgian is still experimenting with combinations ahead of his team’s crucial Afcon qualifying double-header versus Liberia. Two wins in that double-header will seal Bafana’s ticket to Ivory Coast for the next Afcon.

If they beat the Liberians, it’ll be the first Afcon since the 2019 edition. The team also missed out on participation in 2010, 2012 and 2017 and 2022. Those continental failures have done little to enhance Bafana Bafana’s diminishing public image.

Broader issue

Despite Bafana Bafana’s attendance woes, the problem of stadium attendance is prevalent even at club level.

Unless the clubs playing are Mamelodi Sundowns vs either Orlando Pirates or Chiefs, or the two Soweto giants playing each other — games in South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) are attended by sparse crowds.

Bloemfontein Celtic matches, before their demise from the professional club sphere more than a year ago, were the exception.

Otherwise, once avid supporters of the domestic league have abstained from stadiums in recent years, citing a lack of entertaining football as the reason. Even some former PSL stars have criticised the standard and quality of football in the country in recent years.

Those detractors include former Orlando Pirates skipper Mbulelo “OJ” Mabizela.

The retired defender, who had a stint with English side Tottenham Hotspur in the early 2000s and is considered one of most naturally talented footballers produced by SA football, told Marawa Sports Worldwide a few months ago:

“I don’t watch the PSL any more, it’s boring. Things aren’t the same as when we used to play but I also don’t expect it to be. If you were to compare the standard of football from when we played, it has somewhat taken steps backwards.

“The current generation couldn’t take the baton and continue from where we left off and elevate the standards of the South African game; in fact it has continued to regress,” Mabizela said.

Given that the vast majority of South Africans remain football lovers, the trend of low attendance at football matches across all spectrums should be a cause for concern and a call to arms for the powers that be across the respective tiers.

If not addressed, it may result in the country’s football further disappearing into the shadows of continental football, never mind globally. DM