The South Africa national netball team, also known as the SPAR Proteas, represent Netball South Africa in international netball tournaments, such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Netball Quad Series and the Fast5 Netball World Series. Their best result in a major tournament is a silver medal at the 1995 World Netball Championships. As of 1 March 2024, South Africa are currently fifth in the World Netball Rankings.
In 1956, South Africa hosted a touring England. The tour featured a series of three Tests, with England winning all three.[1][2] In 1959 South Africa toured England for the first time, winning 18 out of 25 matches. However, they once again lost all three Test matches against England.[1]
South Africa made their World Netball Championships/Netball World Cup debut at the inaugural 1963 tournament. Despite victories over Scotland, the West Indies, Wales and Ceylon, they finished sixth.[3][4] In 1967 they were bronze medalists.[5] However, between 1971 and 1991, South Africa was unable to compete because of the sporting boycott during the apartheid era.[4][6] In 1995, South Africa returned and with an all-white team coached by Marlene Wagner, captained by Debbie Hamman and featuring Irene van Dyk and Elize Kotze, they finished as silver medalists. During the tournament they defeated both England and New Zealand before losing in the final to Australia. In 1996 Wagner, Hamman and van Dyk were all honoured by President Nelson Mandela personally.[4][6][7][8][9] South Africa hosted the 2023 Netball World Cup.[4][10][11][12][13]
Source:[24]
South Africa have competed at every netball tournament at the Commonwealth Games. They have never medalled in the Commonwealth Games. Their highest finish in the event came in 1998 when they finished 4th, after losing the bronze medal match to England 56–54.[25][26]
Sources:[25]
Since 2016, South Africa have competed in the Netball Quad Series, playing against Australia, England and New Zealand. South Africa has never finished above fourth place in the series.[35]
Since 2011, when they made their debut in the second tournament, South Africa has competed at every Fast5 Netball World Series. South Africa’s best performance in the series was in 2022, when they gained a silver medal after losing to Australia in the final. Their best previous performance was a third place finish in 2012.[54][55][56]
Sources:[55][56]
South Africa also competes in competitions against other African national teams. These include the Africa Netball Cup, the Netball South Africa Challenge, tournaments at the All-Africa Games and Netball World Cup qualifiers.[67][68]
At the 1995 World Netball Championships, South Africa had featured only white players. At the 1995 All-Africa Games, officials reguested that South Africa include six non-white players. This saw six members from the silver medal winning squad dropped and replaced. The six remaining white players subsequently withdrew on 1 September, protesting that the team was not selected by merit. So on 6 September a totally new squad was named.[8]
Since 2012, Netball South Africa has hosted the Netball South Africa Challenge. The trophy is contested with mainly visiting African national teams.
The current squad was selected for the August 2024 series against Malawi.
Both Irene van Dyk and Leana de Bruin played for South Africa before switching nationalities and going onto represent New Zealand.