The South African presidency highlighted the importance of the Football for Humanity match, which featured the Palestine National Football Team.
The match took place at Cape Town’s Athlone Stadium on Sunday, the same day as the anniversary of former president Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990.
This sporting event, which President Cyril Ramaphosa and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis both attended, showcased South Africa’s solidarity with Palestine.
The Palestine team was invited by the South African Football Association (Safa) in the Western Cape.
The matches against a South African team, led by coaches Boebie Solomons, Jomo Sono, and Farouk Khan, served as a gesture of support for the Palestinian people’s rights.
The Palestine football team arrived late last week to a cheerful crowd.
Among those at the airport to welcome the team was Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Nocawe Mafu.
Mafu said: “We are here to welcome our friends, our comrades, the Palestinian team that is coming to play a humanitarian match in Cape Town. It is very important for us. You know that these are our friends. We have been friends with Palestine since the 1950s because our struggles are similar.”
The team is expected to stay in the country for two weeks as their next exhibition fixture takes place on 18 February.
Their second fixture will be against Bafana Bafana in a fixture called “The Freedom Cup.”
Pictured above: Ramaphosa with the Palestine football team.
Image source: X
