Casablanca, 13 August 2026. Thembi Kgatlana struck in the 56th minute, Refiloe Jane added a second in the 77th, and Christy Ucheibe's stoppage-time penalty came too late for the Super Falcons: South Africa 2, Nigeria 1, and a place in the intercontinental play-offs for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. Of the Banyana players on the pitch that night, only one has a salary in the public domain.
| Banyana pay | At a glance |
|---|---|
| Highest reported salary | Thembi Kgatlana, about $550,000 a year at Tigres |
| Captain | Refiloe Jane, TS Galaxy Queens |
| Head coach | Desiree Ellis, four-year deal signed October 2025 |
| Coach's salary | Not published by SAFA |
| 2023 World Cup group-stage pay | R795,000 per player |
| 2022 WAFCON title bonus | R400,000 per player |
| Monthly national team wage | None published |
Banyana Banyana players salary ranking for 2026
Treat the big numbers with care. Online lists hand several Banyana players fortunes in the millions without a source. None of the clubs below has published a wage.
First place goes on a reported salary; after that the order simply puts foreign leagues ahead of the Hollywoodbets Super League, not any confirmed pay. Clubs are checked against the WAFCON 2026 squad list and later transfers.
| # | Player | Club, October 2026 | Salary on record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thembi Kgatlana | Tigres UANL, Mexico | Reported $550,000 a year (2023) |
| 2 | Hildah Magaia | Al-Ittihad, Saudi Arabia | Not disclosed |
| 3 | Linda Motlhalo | Glasgow City, Scotland | Not disclosed |
| 4 | Refiloe Jane | TS Galaxy Queens | Not disclosed |
| 5 | Andile Dlamini | Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies | Not disclosed |
| 6 | Kaylin Swart | JVW | Not disclosed |
Kgatlana's number dates from December 2023, when Racing Louisville sold her to Tigres for $275,000, the second-highest outgoing fee in NWSL history at the time, and The Equalizer reported, citing sources, that she would earn the equivalent of $550,000 a year in Mexico.
Neither club confirmed it.
Magaia's move is newer. Al-Ittihad, the Jeddah side, announced her on 11 September 2026, iDiski Times reported. No terms were given. Her Deportivo de La Coruña spell had ended in June after six games. Our Hildah Magaia salary and career profile has the full route from Dennilton to Saudi Arabia.
Motlhalo extended her Glasgow City deal on 28 January 2026, to summer 2027. “I have extended my stay in Glasgow because I have always said that it is a home,” she said in the club's announcement. See our Linda Motlhalo salary and stats page.
Two famous names are gone.
Noko Matlou retired from international football in April 2025 with 174 caps. Jermaine Seoposenwe followed in July 2025 after 112.
The home-based reality
Jane, Dlamini and Swart play in South Africa, where the money is thin. “To run a Super League club you spend R500,000 a month but you get R90,000,” TS Galaxy chairman Tim Sukazi told iDiski Times in November 2024. Swart, working a nine-to-five office job and training from 7pm, was blunter in 2023. “Women's football in SA isn't professionalised and we are not paid salaries really,” she told Sunday World.
Banyana Banyana salary per month: how national team money works
There is no monthly wage.
SAFA has never published one. National team income arrives as bonuses and tournament fees, often after a fight. After the 2022 WAFCON triumph each player received R400,000 from the competition and SAFA, TimesLIVE reported. Government then lifted its team reward to R15 million at President Cyril Ramaphosa's request. “This has changed our lives,” Dlamini said.
The 2023 World Cup brought the ugliest dispute. Players objected that their contracts did not include the $30,000 appearance fee FIFA had promised every player at the tournament, and the stand-off was settled at the Hilton Sandton on 5 July 2023: R565,000 as the FIFA fee plus R230,000 per player from the Motsepe Foundation, R795,000 in all. “We end up here because we do not do what we say we will do,” Precious Motsepe said. Reaching the round of 16 lifted the guaranteed FIFA money to R1.14 million, Sunday World reported. SAFA insists things have moved. “The bonuses they get now are four times what they used to get,” chief executive Lydia Monyepao said in July 2025. Yet SABC Sports reported that bonuses for games against Malawi, Botswana and Zambia were still unpaid. Seoposenwe, retired by then, was quoted by Daily Maverick in October 2025: “Every time we go to a major tournament, we must fight about money and basically everything.”
For WAFCON 2026, CAF guaranteed each of the 16 nations $150,000, money paid to federations. No per-player figure for Morocco has been published.
Banyana Banyana coach salary: Desiree Ellis
Ellis is still in charge in 2026, though it was close. Her previous contract lapsed after the 2022 WAFCON and she worked month to month. Talks stalled in October 2025. Assistant Thinasonke Mbuli took the team through both WAFCON qualifiers against DR Congo, and Ellis then signed a four-year deal. “She is back,” SAFA president Danny Jordaan said.
The salary has never been made public.
A letter from SAFA NEC member Gladwyn White to Sascoc, reported by Sunday World, said she had been “offered poverty-stricken remuneration”. It gave no figure. Ellis has declined to discuss it. Her career and record are covered in our Desiree Ellis profile.
Our view
Banyana have a continental title, a World Cup last-16 run and a coach who has just signed for four more years, yet the single most useful salary fact about them is a two-year-old report on one striker in Mexico. Their next test is the play-off group with Chinese Taipei, Ecuador and Uzbekistan between 24 November and 5 December. Watch the bonus talks first.
This article was most recently revised and updated 22 seconds ago
