JOHANNESBURG - Stuart Baxter will be please that, not only has his side reached the Cosafa plate final; but that his side also showed a massive improvement from their 1-0 to Tanzania.
On Tuesday night, Bafana played with more authority and a lot more confidence, as an aggressive Botswana team battled to deal with the pressure, resulting in two yellow cards.
Botwana's style of play did not derail Bafana’s performance, in fact, they kept on adding numbers forward in search of an opener.
Bafana’s efforts were rewarded after Riyaad Norodien scored, giving the home side the lead going into the half time break.
South Africa could have made it 3-0 just before halftime, but both Mohau Mokate and Booysen fluffed some decent chances.
Botswana weaved some decent scoring chances of their own but, each time they did that, Kaizer Chiefs third choice shoot-stopper, Bruce Bvuma, was there.
In the second period, Baxter introduced both Jamie Webber and Cole Alexandra for Riyaad Norodien and Benfica midfielder, Thabo Cele. Alexandra almost made an immediate impact when Botswana’s keeper, Mwampole Masule, received a horrible back pass from one of his defenders.
In the 68th minute, Simisani Mathumo unleashed a powerful shot from outside the box that saw Botswana fans moaning in disbelief. Just before fulltime, Judas Moseamedi struck the final goal for Bafana which saw them win the encounter by 2-0.