Like Nelson Mandela, we fought for future Banyana players – Kaylin Swart

Swart says Mandela, the first democratically elected President of South Africa, who was imprisoned for 27 years, fought for the freedom that today many South Africans are enjoying. She says, their fight will also benefit future generations of Banyana players.

"Ya, if it means we walk this talk right now then you know the next generation will be able to fly. Nelson fought for us and I think now we could say that he walked so we could fly," Swart said.

"I think if this is the start of a new generation to come then I think we made ourselves proud and hopefully we can make ourselves proud in 10 years' time when the new generation comes through and they don't have to fight these battles," she continued.

"I think it will definitely be a win for us if we come back in 10 years and you know what we fought for now has been resolved and the girls are treated the way they should be. Then we'll be very happy with the results."

Banyana players’ demands were the first to be agreed to, but they still remained resolute for the 18 members of the support staff, demanding that they should also be getting their bonuses. With players getting an additional R230 000 bonus to the minimum of R570 000, which will be coming from FIFA, the support staff will get around R115 000. Swart has more on why they stood up for the members of the support staff.

"It's been a long time coming, some of these staff members have been with us since under 17, under 20, so they really saw us grow into the young women that we are today. I think we owed it to them to stand with them because they mean so much to us," she said.

"The medical team, the medical room is basically our safe space and you know we couldn't fight our battles alone, so we had to get them involved. Only because they do so much for us as players. Their tasks are tougher than ours," she added.

"They gotta make sure that we stay injury free and that we are healthy to step on the field every day. I think for us as regards to being a family that really encompasses everything that we speak about and I think they'll appreciate it so much more now."

Banyana captain Refiloe Jane was part of the first group of players and technical team that flew out to New Zealand via Australia yesterday, the second group flies out today. As a leader of the team, who has also been part of the negotiations, she was relieved that they can now finally concentrate on the tournament.

"We are relieved as a team. Also, we wanted to send a message to the nation that when we go out there to New Zealand and Australia that our main focus will be the tournament [World Cup] to do well and represent the nation and give out a good performance because that's the main reason why we are going to the World Cup," Jane said.

"The support has been a very good one. We felt it from all corners of the world and it's something that we've always wanted and to have received it under these circumstances it shows that there are people who are still for football, for women's football and to advance the game here in South Africa. So, we would like to say a thank you message to everyone that rallied behind the team."