Ronwen Williams remains South Africa's largely undisputed number one despite criticism of his performance in South Africa's 2-0 loss to Mexico last Thursday, but questions remain over the pipeline of goalkeepers coming through the ranks to succeed him.
For all the young talents on display in the 2025-26 South African Premiership, few have featured in between the sticks. Sekhukhune United's Leaner, 28, is the youngest regular starter among South African goalkeepers.
South African trio Takalani Mazhamba (Kaizer Chiefs, then 18, now 19) Olwethu Mzimela (AmaZulu, 25) and Elson Sithole (Chippa United, 25) have filled in as temporary starters, but are not clear first-choice keepers at their respective clubs. Kenya's Brian Bwire (25) started for Polokwane City through the first half of the season, while Ghana's Fredrick Asare (then 26, now 27) excelled towards the end.
Could following Egypt's example work?
In Egypt's Premier League - where foreign goalkeepers are banned - the two most prestigious clubs both fielded goalkeepers younger than Leaner in their opening weekend alone. Al Ahly started with Mostafa Shobeir (then 25, now 26) in their 2-2 draw with Modern Future. Meanwhile, Mohamed Sobhy (26) kept a clean sheet for Zamalek in their 2-0 win over Ceramica Cleopatra. Leaner was 27 at the start of the season but turned 28 on Feb. 12.
There has been debate in South Africa regarding whether or not South Africa should follow in Egypt's footsteps. This has even caught the attention of Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos, who was quoted in March 2025 by News24 as saying: "(The goalkeeping crisis) has been a concern for the last two years.
"For the last two years I have been looking at young, talented South African goalkeepers. But when you see in the PSL, there are a lot of clubs that have foreign goalkeepers.
"The young, or South African goalkeeper is second or third in the selection. So, it's difficult for us to find them. The development of goalkeepers has to be better in South Africa.
"We don't really have a big talent pool at the moment. There is a good goalkeeper now coming up after playing in the Under-17s and Under-20 national team (Fletcher Smythe-Lowe). But that is just one!"
Andre Arendse - who was in goal when Bafana Bafana won the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations - has also warned of a potential looming crisis.
Currently on the books of Portugal's Estoril, Smythe-Lowe (19) is the main goalkeeping prospect who has allayed fears over South Africa's future. He starred in last year's U20 Africa Cup of Nations win in Egypt - where he was Goalkeeper of the Tournament. However, there is no goalkeeper anywhere close to his age getting regular minutes in the Premiership.
Many of the current generation's senior goalkeepers cut their teeth on home soil in their youth. Williams - the senior national team captain who often dons the armband for Mamelodi Sundowns too when club captain Themba Zwane is not in the lineup - made his Premiership debut for the now-defunct SuperSport United aged 19. However, he only became the starting goalkeeper for Bafana Bafana aged 27.
Roughly half of starting goalkeepers in the Premiership are South African, but few are significantly younger than Williams. Siwelele FC's Ricardo Goss, for his part, is 32, while Orlando Pirates' Sipho Chaine is 29. They are the two goalkeepers backing up Williams in Mexico, while Kaizer Chiefs' first-choice starter, Brandon Petersen (dropped by Broos after the preliminary squad was cut) is 31.
Can Bafana trust the current order?
Although there is a shortage of younger goalkeepers challenging him for a spot, Williams - now 34 - believes that it would be counterproductive to follow in Egypt's footsteps and ban foreign goalkeepers.
Williams told ESPN shortly before the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: "If you look alone at Bafana Bafana [in 2024] - how many keepers played - I think five keepers got a chance to play. It was myself, Veli [Mothwa], Ricardo Goss and Sage Stephens. They - maybe with Bruce Bvuma and Brandon Petersen at Kaizer Chiefs... are the next generation of the goalkeepers that must push the country.
"All of the keepers have the ability. It's just about consistency - and the thing that's worrying for me now is how easily goalkeepers are getting criticised these days. You concede a goal and then you're not good enough [in the eyes of critics].
"I've heard people say we need to adopt the Egyptian rule where there's no foreign goalkeepers allowed, but I would ask them one question: name the keepers in the last 10 years that have played for Egypt. The biggest problem was that after [Essam] El Hadary retired, people were saying there were no other keepers coming through - but name the keepers that have played in the last 10 years. It's only [Mohamed] El Shenawy [who has stood out].
"Where's this influx of goalkeepers? There's [almost] none. I can only speak about El Shenawy and [Mostafa] Shobeir. Shobeir [has been] his second choice at Al Ahly, so he [has not] got many games and he [has been] second or third choice at Egypt as well."
In fairness, Egypt has seen another goalkeeper's stock rise since WIlliams' interview with ESPN - that of El Gouna's Mohamed Alaa (27), who made the national team's World Cup squad.
"We should not just get excited about what other people are doing... Slowly but surely, Sipho will get his chance [to play] all the games. He will take over and then eventually, [someone else] will take over. That's how it is. In the beginning, things maybe won't be all nice, but goalkeeping is a very challenging position," Williams continued.
"I would advise the keepers to keep going. Hear the noise, but learn from it and grow from it, because eventually, you will be at that stage where you are just so solid. No keeper comes from a young age and is solid all the way."
Is the future bright?
There are talented young goalkeepers waiting in the wings. Mazhamba made his Chiefs debut. Dejean Ah Shene, who is 21 years old and on the books of Stellenbosch FC, is one of the standouts who is likely to have a breakthrough soon.
With Ah Shene having featured in U17 and U20 national team squads, he could be another goalkeeper to push Smythe-Lowe for national team minutes. However, many talented South African goalkeepers have ultimately fallen through the cracks over the years.
Jethren Barr - who was most recently on the books of Irish club Drogheda United - retired after struggles with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome [ME/CFS].
He was one of many who came through the ranks in the South African Premiership but never got the minutes he expected locally.
Barr remains the youngest goalkeeper ever to have played in the South African Premiership aged 17 in April 2013 for Bidvest Wits against Orlando Pirates. He subsequently played once more in the Premiership for Wits in 2015-16, then seven times in the top flight for Maritzburg United in 2020-21 before leaving South Africa with a total of nine top flight appearances to his name. His brightest days subsequently came in the colours of Northern Ireland's Portadown before his brief stint at Drogheda.
Following their relegation from the Premiership, Cape Town City signed Dutch goalkeeper Mickey van der Hart in a deal announced on August 6. Later that day, Barr, still not yet retired at the time, posted on X: "If there is no room for young South African goalkeepers in the PSL, at least they might have a chance in the NFD ... or so you would like to think??? This is a HUGE problem! Where are these boys supposed to play; please tell me!???"
The PSL (Premier Soccer League) is the organisation which governs the top two divisions of South African football, but the Betway Premiership is often informally referred to as the "PSL", while the second-tier Motsepe Foundation Championship is known to many as the "NFD" - an abbreviation of "National First Division".
There may be just enough talent in the pipeline to ensure that the national team does not run out of suitable goalkeepers completely for at least another generation. However, for South Africa's next generation of shot-stoppers, the question remains: can they find a route to the top of the game without leaving for pastures new at a young age?