Thousands of jubilant fans give Bafana heroes' welcome

Thousands of South Africans, including EFF leader Julius Malema and Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi gave Bafana Bafana a heroes welcome this morning at OR Tambo international airport.

Bafana players arrived this morning at 5am from the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast where they finished third and claimed the bronze medal.

Jubilant supporters started arriving at the airport as early as 3am on Wednesday to wait for the national team.

Addressing the thousands of the fans, captain Ronwen Williams thanked the South African public for their support.

"The brotherhood we have in this team, the spirit among each other is just amazing and I think that is one of the reasons why we were successful in the tournament," Williams said.

"We were together, we were united. In SA, we say ubuntu and that's exactly what we had together. This led us when things were tough.

"Just to stick together, it's amazing to be part of such an amazing group. They make my job so much easier as a captain."

Speaking to the media after the press conference, Malema said they decided to bring their supporters to welcome Bafana because they knew it would have been difficult for the most people to wake up at 3am.

Most of the supporters at the airport were seen wearing EFF replicas as they welcomed the national team.

"It is unheard of [to see] supporters at 3am at OR Tambo, that is the sign of commitment, that's a sign of love and appreciation because you have done something good," Malema said.

"The players were supposed to come in and then just go home without anyone being here and it would have been justifiable because it was in the early hours.

"But when people have done well for the country, [supporters] will sleep here at the airport and [welcome] them and show the world that they care.

"If you look at Bafana games at FNB recently, you will not miss an EFF flag in the stadium, we always took a decision no matter the performance they are us."