THE Santos duo of Erwin Isaacs and Tshepo Motsoeneng have been been selected by Amabinneplaas coach Serame "Rhee" Letsoaka to represent South Africa in the African Nations Championship match against Botswana in Gaborone on Saturday.

Preparations begin in Johannesburg today. The South Africans will depart for Gaborone on Wednesday.

Included in the SA team is Jomo Cosmos's rock-solid defender Thapelo "Chappies" Tshilo whose team was relegated to the National First Division on Saturday.

Michael "Skaapie" Nkambule (Kaizer Chiefs), Joseph "Dukuduku" Makhanya (Orlando Pirates) and Ryan Botha (Moroka Swallows) are also part of the South African team.

The African Nations Championship is a biennial tournament introduced by the Confederation of African Football for home-based players to get a taste of international soccer.

"We have been playing a series of friendlies against the Lesotho and Swaziland national teams to prepare for the game against Botswana, everything is going well," said Letsoaka.