WATCH | I’ve always believed that I belong to Bafana, says Mailula
Mamelodi Sundowns forward Cassius Mailula says he has always known he was Bafana Bafana material, lauding his own quality as a player.
Mailula has returned to the national team under new coach Pitso Mosimane, having last played for the senior side in March 2023, featuring for just 10 minutes in the 2-2 Afcon qualifier draw against Liberia at Orlando Stadium under previous coach Hugo Broos.
“I’ve always believed that I belong to the national team because of the quality that I have,” Mailula said at a presser in Auckland Park this week.
Mamelodi Sundowns forward Cassius Mailula asserts that he has always believed that he belongs to Bafana Bafana.Video: Sihle Ndebele. pic.twitter.com/z83hbKeeb8— Sowetan (@Sowetan1981) September 22, 2026
“Even with the previous coach [Broos], I was called up, but unfortunately things didn’t work out the way I’d have wanted them to because I wasn’t playing at my club.”
Under Broos, the 25-year-old lost his Bafana slot when he transferred from Sundowns to US Major League Soccer (MLS) side Toronto in July 2023.
At Toronto, Mailula struggled for game time, spending the better part of his spell out on loan at clubs like Wydad Casablanca of Morocco and KV Kortrijk of Belgium, until he returned to the Brazilians at the start of this season.
Mailula has hit the ground running at Sundowns, already boasting four goals in 11 games across all competitions.
“It (his Bafana inclusion) shows that it doesn’t matter who you are… you have to play at your club to earn a call-up,” Mailula said.
“Coming back home to start playing more games gave me a lot of confidence that if you do well, especially playing for a big club, you have a chance to come back to the national team.”
Bafana are in camp in Johannesburg, gearing up for two Afcon qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea. SA face Guinea at Orlando Amstel Arena in their Group D opener of next year’s Afcon qualifiers on Saturday, before facing Eritrea in Cairo next Wednesday.
Kenya, who alongside Uganda and Tanzania are the co-hosts of the Afcon that’s being qualified for in the Pamoja region next year, are Bafana’s other opponent in Group D, where only one team will emerge as the Benni McCarthy-coached nation have already qualified as one of the hosts.
Bafana will also play a high-profile friendly against Egypt in Cairo on October 4.
Meanwhile, Lebohang Maboe was withdrawn from the squad due to injury, with Tshepang Moremi set to replace him.