By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africans have dominated the inaugural Cosafa Awards at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Thursday evening.
Ronwen Wiliams was named the CAF Goalkeeper of the Year award, thanks to his heroics in the African Football League for Mamelodi Sundowns and with Bafana Bafana at Afcon 2023. His teammate, Thapelo Maseko, 20, was named the CAF Most Promising Player of the Year.
Andile Dlamini was named Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year.
The awards gala marked a celebration of the very best of Southern African football players, coaches and referees who excelled in 2023.
Sundowns continued their dominance of the awards, with Rulani Mokwena being named Men’s Coach of the Year. Desiree Ellis made sure that South Africa completed a double in the coaching category, as she was named the Women’s Coach of the Year.
South Africa claimed the main award of the evening, when Percy Tau was named Men’s Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, Fran Hilton-Smith, Janine Van Wyk as well as Mark Gleeson also received Lifetime Achievement awards by COSAFA.
The judging panel from across the 14 member nations that make up COSAFA are renowned for their knowledge of Southern African football and are as follows:
Houssamidine Ben Ahmed (Comoros), Ivan Capuepue (Angola), Rob Delport (South Africa), Gerard Govinden (Seychelles), Peter Kanjere (Malawi), Jesse Kauraisa (Namibia), Kagiso Kgaogano (Botswana), Sibusiso Masilela (Eswatini), Sandra Mwila (Zambia), Boitelo Radebe (Lesotho), Heriniaina Samson (Madagascar), Benoit Thomas (Mauritius), Steve Vickers (Zimbabwe) and Raimundo Zandamela (Mozambique).