{"id":46884,"date":"2026-01-07T12:18:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T12:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=46884"},"modified":"2026-01-07T12:18:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T12:18:40","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigngayton-mckenzie-welcomes-bafana-bafana-home-after-afcon-2025-heartbreak-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/07\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigngayton-mckenzie-welcomes-bafana-bafana-home-after-afcon-2025-heartbreak-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Gayton McKenzie welcomes Bafana Bafana home after Afcon 2025 heartbreak (Video)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_165024\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-165024\" class=\"wp-image-165024 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Gayton-McKenzie-calls-for-restored-US-ties-after-Secretary-Marco.jpg?resize=600%2C393&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Gayton-McKenzie-calls-for-restored-US-ties-after-Secretary-Marco.jpg 600w, https:\/\/fakazanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Gayton-McKenzie-2-300x197.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-165024\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gayton McKenzie shows support to Bafana Bafana<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie put aside earlier criticism to welcome Bafana Bafana home following their elimination from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, showing public support for the team upon their arrival at the airport on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The national team returned to South Africa after their Afcon campaign ended on Sunday with a 2\u20131 defeat to Cameroon, a result that sparked widespread disappointment among fans.<\/p>\n<p>McKenzie himself had been vocal in the aftermath of the loss, openly criticising missed chances that he felt cost the team a place in the next round.<\/p>\n<p>Despite that, the minister struck a more supportive tone as the squad landed back home.<\/p>\n<p>Taking to social media, McKenzie shared a video of himself greeting head coach Hugo Broos, players and members of the technical team, shaking hands and offering words of encouragement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur boys are gutted. Not succeeding is the best lesson,\u201d McKenzie wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRise above your own disappointment, boys. We love you and have full hope that Mexico will be set alight by you. True South Africans are behind you all the way. I\u2019m glad I came to welcome you this morning,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>His post drew mixed reactions online, with some praising the gesture as leadership and unity, while others questioned the contrast between his earlier criticism and his airport appearance.<\/p>\n<p>Still, many supporters welcomed the message of encouragement as Bafana Bafana turn their focus to the future.<\/p>\n<p>With Afcon 2025 now behind them, the team is expected to regroup and shift attention to upcoming World Cup commitments, as preparations continue for the global stage ahead.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Our Boys are gutted, not succeeding is the best lesson, rise above your own disappointment Boys, We love you and have full hope that Mexico will be set alight by you. True South Africans are behind you all the way. I\u2019m glad I came to welcome you this morning \ud83e\udd79\u26bd\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f\ud83e\udd1b <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/03yspsyHnt\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/03yspsyHnt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Gayton McKenzie (@GaytonMcK) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GaytonMcK\/status\/2008769798604550433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">January 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 4 -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Gayton #McKenzie #welcomes #Bafana #Bafana #home #Afcon #heartbreak #Video<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; Gayton McKenzie shows support to Bafana Bafana Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie put aside earlier criticism&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46884"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46885,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46884\/revisions\/46885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}