Akhona Makalima is the only South African referee that will be officiating at the prestigious TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2024.
The tournament runs from 5-26 next month.
Makalima has been named among the 18 referees who will be in charge of matches. There are also 18 Assistant Referees and 10 VAR operators – a total of 46 match officials selected from 30 countries.
This is a bigger number compared to the last time the WAFCON was held in Morocco in 2022, where South Africa lifted their maiden title.
“A total of 46 Referees, Assistant Referees and Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be part of the prestigious continental finals with Africa’s top female officials chosen for the tournament. It is a record number of match officials, beating the previous best mark of 40 that took part in the 2022 finals. There will be 18 Referees, 18 Assistant Referees and 10 VAR operators from 30 different countries on the continent, with hosts Morocco (5) supplying the greatest number,” said CAF in a statement.
The 37-year-old Eastern Cape-born Makalima comes with a lot of experience. She has been on the international refereeing panel since 2014 and has officiated at various high level tournaments at FIFA, CAF, COSAFA and the Premier Soccer League – and is the first ever female referee in the latter entity.
Among others, she was selected as a referee for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and worked VAR at both the 2023 AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire and the 2024 CAF Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
“It’s a great honour to be selected amongst the phenomenal women in Africa, to be amongst the 18 referees and also to be amongst the six from the COSAFA region. We are seeing how ladies are now taking up space and how they have been sharpened by the region, and we can see that the region has produced quite a number of match officials, so to be selected and be there to be amongst the six that’s a great honour, it’s amazing it’s exciting,” Makalima told COSAFA TV.
“This will be very special because all the time you constantly have to challenge yourself and sharpen yourself. It’s also going to be special it’s going to be my third one and you know sometimes you feel like when the road is getting a little bit hard you find a lot of challenges – and there were times where you feel like with all the challenges I have been facing am I going to make it to the to the third one because you see the challenge, you see ladies working hard and we can see younger referees fresh and strong coming up and now as an experienced referee you cannot just sit back and say no I’ve been there before. You constantly have to work hard, you constantly have to prove yourself, you constantly have to prove it to COSAFA, to make COSAFA happy, to make COSAFA proud. So, I am extremely happy I cannot wait to be amongst the ladies at WAFCON.”
Makalima will not be flying solo in North Africa, and will be joined by five other match officials from COSAFA:
- Akhona Makalima: Referee (South Africa)
- Antsino Twanyanyuka: Referee (Namibia)
- Diana Chikotesha: Ass. Referee (Zambia)
- Nancy Kasitu: Ass. Referee (Zambia)
- Maria Rivet: VAR (Mauritius)
- Letticia Viana: VAR (Eswatini)
Makalima, Rivet and Viana have just completed their latest match officiating assignment at the 2025 COSAFA Cup Senior Men’s Tournament that came to an end on Sunday, 15 June in Mangaung, Bloemfontein where Angola lifted the trophy, successfully defending their 2024 title.
By Matlhomola Morake
