APA-Pretoria (South Africa) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has joined the campaign for the country’s male and female athletes in all sporting disciplines to be paid the same wages in the “equal pay for equal work” principle.
The president said this in the wake of the country’s women’s football team, Banyana Banyana, beating Italy 3-2 in Wellington, New Zealand, to qualify for the next Round of 16 at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament on Wednesday.
Before their departure for their second consecutive World Cup appearance, Banyana Banyana were involved in a standoff with the South African Football Association over pay.
“The president calls on the leadership of the sport and those associated with the game to ensure the equal pay for equal work principle is adhered to in football and in all women’s sport,” Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said on Thursday.
Briefing the media at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Magwenya congratulated the national women’s football team for their “heroic and dramatic 3-2 win against Italy.”
He said the South Africans had made history by reaching the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup last 16, becoming the country’s first team to do so in the process.
The country had witnessed “the boldness of the Banyana Banyana team who, without a professional league and big sponsors, have conquered the continent and are now making their mark on the world stage,” the spokesperson said.
“Banyana Banyana is an incredibly special team. All 60 million South Africans are behind this team and want them to do well,” Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa said on Thursday.
NM/jn/APA