South Africa national netball team

See also: South Africa men's national netball team

The South Africa national netball team, also known as the SPAR Proteas, represent Netball South Africa in international netball tournaments, such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Netball Quad Series and the Fast5 Netball World Series. Their best result in a major tournament is a silver medal at the 1995 World Netball Championships. As of 1 March 2024, South Africa are currently fifth in the World Netball Rankings.

South Africa

South Africa netball crest
Nickname(s)	Proteas
Association	Netball South Africa
Confederation	Africa Netball
Head coach	Jenny van Dyk
Captain	Khanyisa Chawane
Most caps	Bongiwe Msomi (171)
World ranking	5
Team colours Alternate
Commonwealth Games
Appearances	7 (Debuted in 1998)
2022 placing	6th
Best result	4th (1998)

History

Early tests

In 1956, South Africa hosted a touring England. The tour featured a series of three Tests, with England winning all three.^[1][2] In 1959 South Africa toured England for the first time, winning 18 out of 25 matches. However, they once again lost all three Test matches against England.^[1]

Tournament history

Major tournaments

Netball World Cup

South Africa made their World Netball Championships/Netball World Cup debut at the inaugural 1963 tournament. Despite victories over Scotland, the West Indies, Wales and Ceylon, they finished sixth.^[3][4] In 1967 they were bronze medalists.^[5] However, between 1971 and 1991, South Africa was unable to compete because of the sporting boycott during the apartheid era.^[4][6] In 1995, South Africa returned and with an all-white team coached by Marlene Wagner, captained by Debbie Hamman and featuring Irene van Dyk and Elize Kotze, they finished as silver medalists. During the tournament they defeated both England and New Zealand before losing in the final to Australia. In 1996 Wagner, Hamman and van Dyk were all honoured by President Nelson Mandela personally.^{[4][6][7][8][9]} South Africa hosted the 2023 Netball World Cup.^{[4][10][11][12][13]}

Tournaments	Place
1963 World Netball Championships[3][4]	6th
1967 World Netball Championships[5]
1995 World Netball Championships[4][6][7][8][9]
1999 World Netball Championships[14]	5th
2003 World Netball Championships[15]	5th
2007 World Netball Championships[16]	6th
2011 World Netball Championships[17]	5th
2015 Netball World Cup[18][19]	5th
2019 Netball World Cup[20][21][22]	4th
2023 Netball World Cup[13][23]	6th

Source:^[24]

Commonwealth Games

South Africa have competed at every netball tournament at the Commonwealth Games. They have never medalled in the Commonwealth Games. Their highest finish in the event came in 1998 when they finished 4th, after losing the bronze medal match to England 56–54.^[25][26] Ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Netball South Africa awarded 24 players professional contracts for the first time. They included Khanyisa Chawane, Marlize de Bruin, Izette Griesel, Phumza Maweni, Bongiwe Msomi, Lenize Potgieter, Karla Pretorius, Lefebre Rademan, Nichole Taljaard, Shadine van der Merwe, Ine-Marí Venter and Zanele Vimbela.^[27][28]

Tournaments	Place
1998 Commonwealth Games[29]	4th
2002 Commonwealth Games[30]	5th
2006 Commonwealth Games[31]	7th
2010 Commonwealth Games[32]	6th
2014 Commonwealth Games[33]	6th
2018 Commonwealth Games[34][35]	5th
2022 Commonwealth Games[36][37]	6th

Sources:^[25]

Netball Quad Series/Nations Cup

Since 2012, South Africa have competed in the Netball Quad Series, playing against Australia, England and New Zealand.

Tournaments	Place
2012 Netball Quad Series[38]	4th
2016 Netball Quad Series[39][40]	4th
2017 Netball Quad Series (January/February)[41][42]	4th
2017 Netball Quad Series (August/September)[43][44][45]	4th
2018 Netball Quad Series (January)[46][47]	4th
2018 Netball Quad Series (September)[48][49]	4th
2019 Netball Quad Series[50][51]	4th
2020 Netball Nations Cup[52]	4th
2022 Netball Quad Series[53][54]	4th
2023 Netball Quad Series[55][56]	4th
2025 Netball Nations Cup[57]	2nd

Fast5 Netball World Series

Since 2011, when they made their debut in the second tournament, South Africa has competed at every Fast5 Netball World Series. South Africa’s best performance in the series was in 2022, when they gained a silver medal after losing to Australia in the final. Their best previous performance was a third place finish in 2012.^[58][59][60]

Tournaments	Place
2010 World Netball Series	6th
2011 World Netball Series	5th
2012 Fast5 Netball World Series[58]
2013 Fast5 Netball World Series	6th
2014 Fast5 Netball World Series[61]	5th
2016 Fast5 Netball World Series[62][63]	6th
2017 Fast5 Netball World Series[64][65]	5th
2018 Fast5 Netball World Series[66][67]	6th
2022 Fast5 Netball World Series[58][68]
2023 Fast5 Netball World Series[69][70]	4th
2024 Fast5 Netball World Series[71][72]	4th

Sources:^[59][60]

African tournaments

South Africa also competes in competitions against other African national teams. These include the Africa Netball Cup, the Diamond Challenge, tournaments at the All-Africa Games and Netball World Cup qualifiers.^[73][74][75]

All-Africa Games

At the 1995 World Netball Championships, South Africa had featured only white players. At the 1995 All-Africa Games, officials reguested that South Africa include six non-white players. This saw six members from the silver medal winning squad dropped and replaced. The six remaining white players subsequently withdrew on 1 September, protesting that the team was not selected by merit. So on 6 September a totally new squad was named.^[8]

Tournaments	Place
1995 All-Africa Games[8]
1999 All-Africa Games[76]
2011 All-Africa Games[77]	6th

Africa Netball Cup

Tournaments	Place
2013 African Netball Championship[78][79]	1st
2019 Africa Netball Cup[80]	1st
2021 Africa Netball Cup[81]	1st
2024 Africa Netball Cup[82]	1st

Netball South Africa Diamond Challenge

Since 2012, Netball South Africa has hosted the Diamond Challenge. The trophy is contested with mainly visiting African national teams.

Tournaments	Place
2012 Diamond Challenge[83]	1st
2013 Diamond Challenge[84]	1st
2015 Diamond Challenge[85]	1st
2016 Diamond Challenge[86][87]	1st
2018 Diamond Challenge[88][89]	1st
2021 SPAR Challenge Series[90][91]	1st
2022 SPAR Diamond Challenge[92]	1st

Netball World Cup qualifiers

Tournaments	Place
2006 COSANA Games[93]	2nd
2011 World Netball Championships Qualifier[94]	1st
2023 Netball World Cup qualification – Africa[37][95]	1st

Guest appearances

Tournaments	Place
2015 European Netball Championship[96][97]
2015 Taini Jamison Trophy Series[98]	2nd

Notable players

Current squad

The current squad was selected for the August 2024 series against Malawi.

South Africa roster
Players	Coaches
Name Pos DOB Height Club Nat Caps Elmeré van der Berg GS, GA (2001-04-09) 9 April 2001 (age 23) 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Manchester Thunder Khanyisa Chawane (c) WD,C,WA (1996-01-14) 14 January 1996 (age 29) 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) Cardiff Dragons Boitumelo Mahloko WD, GD (2001-01-24) 24 January 2001 (age 24) 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Gauteng Golden Fireballs Kamogelo Maseko GA, WA (2002-03-30) 30 March 2002 (age 22) 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) Gauteng Jaguars Sesandile Owethu Ngubane GS, GA (2002-04-19) 19 April 2002 (age 22) 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Gauteng Golden Fireballs Refiloe Nketsa WD,C,WA (1995-05-15) 15 May 1995 (age 29) 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Free State Crinums Karla Pretorius (vc) GD,WD (1990-03-12) 12 March 1990 (age 34) 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Free State Crinums Ane Retief GK (1998-09-09) 9 September 1998 (age 26) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Free State Crinums Nicola Smith GK,GD (2000-04-25) 25 April 2000 (age 24) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Loughborough Lightning Rolene Streutker GA, GS – Melbourne Mavericks Jeanté Strydom GD,WD (1996-09-30) 30 September 1996 (age 28) 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Southern Steel Nicholé Taljaard GA,WA (1997-05-03) 3 May 1997 (age 27) 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) London Pulse Ine-Marí Venter GS,GA (1995-04-21) 21 April 1995 (age 29) 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Saracens Mavericks Jamie van Wyk GD (2000-10-31) 31 October 2000 (age 24) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Gauteng Jaguars	Head coach Jenny van Dyk Assistant coach Zanele Mdodana Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player
Player profiles: Team website	Last updated: 26 August 2024

Captains

Years	Captains
1995	Debbie Hamman[7]
1999–2000	Irene van Dyk[14][99]
2003	Elsje Jordaan[15][100]
2003–2005	Martha Mosoahle[101]
2006	Charlene Hertzog[93][102]
2007	Bronwyn Bock-Jonathan[16][103]
2008–2010	Liezel Wium[104][105]
2010–2012	Amanda Mynhardt[17][59][106]
2011	Precious Mthembu[107][108]
2012	Zanele Mdodana[83]
2013–2016	Maryka Holtzhausen[109][110][111][112]
2016–2023	Bongiwe Msomi[113][114]
2024–	Khanyisa Chawane[115][116][117]

Most-capped internationals

Player	Appearances	Years
Bongiwe Msomi[114]	171	2011–2023
Phumza Maweni[118]	121	2014–2023
Erin Burger[119][120]	120	2007–2019
Maryka Holtzhausen[112][121]	116	2007–2019
Karla Pretorius[122]	100	2011–
Precious Mthembu[123]	97	2007–2022

New Zealand internationals

Both Irene van Dyk and Leana de Bruin played for South Africa before switching nationalities and going onto represent New Zealand.

Player	SA Appearances	Years	NZ Appearances	Years
Leana de Bruin[124]	34		104	2003–2016
Irene van Dyk[125][126]	72	1994–2000	145	2000–2014

Head coaches

Years	Coaches
1992–1999	Marlene Wagner[7][8][127][128]
1999–2000	Bennie Saayman[14][99][129][130]
1999–2003	Louise du Plessis[14][99][127]
2003–2006	Marlene Wagner[15][127][128]
2008–2011	Carin Strauss[59][131]
2011	Marchelle Maroun[132]
2011–2015	Elize Kotze[17][59][133][134]
2015	Bennie Saayman[129][130]
2015–2017	Norma Plummer[135][136][137]
2016–2017	Elsje Jordaan[59][100][138][139][140]
2018–2019	Norma Plummer[137][141][142]
2019–2022	Dorette Badenhorst[80][137][143]
2022–2023	Norma Plummer[142][144]
2024–	Jenny van Dyk[145]

Main sponsors

Years	Sponsors
2000–	SPAR[146][147][148]

Honours

• Africa Netball Cup
  • Winners: 2013, 2019, 2021, 2024
• All-Africa Games
  • Winners: 1995, 1999
• Diamond Challenge
  • Winners: 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022
• World Netball Championships/Netball World Cup
  • Runners Up: 1995
• Netball Quad Series/Nations Cup
  • Runners Up: 2025
• Taini Jamison Trophy
  • Runners Up: 2015
• Fast5 Netball World Series
  • Runners up: 2022
• European Netball Championship
  • Runners Up: 2015