Weeks after announcing that the conclusion of the 2024 WAFCON tournament would mark her retirement from international football, Jermaine Seoposenwe has revealed that this decision was due to her discontentment with Banyana Banyana’s culture.
While coach Desiree Ellis and her 26-woman squad were locked in on trying to defend their 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title, Jermaine Seoposenwe shocked the women’s football world when she revealed that the end of the coveted tournament would mark the end of her international football career.
With a total of 102 international caps and 20 goals under her belt, the C.F. Monterrey player had become an integral part of Banyana Banyana’s plan and led the team to many significant victories, including leading the team to tournaments such as the 2018 Rio Summer Olympics, as well as the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, where they made their first ever appearance.
End of an era 🥹
✅ 100+ appearances 👕
⚽ 20 international goals 🎯
🏆 WAFCON championJermaine Seoposenwe has played her final match for Banyana Banyana, following her announcement to retire from international football.
Thank you for everything, @jermaine109 💚💛
Take a bow… pic.twitter.com/Y1X2lCF6eW— GOAL South Africa (@GOALcomSA) July 26, 2025
In an interesting turn of events, instead of enjoying some well-deserved rest after selflessly serving the national team for approximately two decades, Jermaine’s retirement has already been embroiled in scandal. This comes after the Cape Town native sat down with 94.7’s Robert Marawa to confirm the suspicions and rumors that had been circulating for a while regarding the state of Banyana Banyana’s situation behind the scenes.
Opening up to Robert, Jermaine revealed that she had not been happy in the national team for some time now, and retirement was the only way out for her. Jermaine identifies the South African Football Association (SAFA) as the culprit for the rot that exists within the Banyana Banyana locker room, as she believes they have not treated the players with the respect and dignity that they deserve.
According to Jermaine, players constantly found themselves having to fight for everything, including being provided with the resources that they needed to succeed. Furthermore, she revealed that matters had gotten to a point where players had to boycott just recently at the 2024 WAFCON tournament, due to the failure to come to a consensus with SAFA.
The association, the coaching and the culture is why I’m retiring!
If we as a nation say we love football as much as we say we do then we have a responsibility to bring change.
My hope is that my retirement will start a necessary conversation, one that we have been ignoring… https://t.co/casOynhEkN
— Jermaine Seoposenwe (@jermaine109) July 30, 2025
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