Mamelodi Sundowns took center stage at the 2025 South African Football Journalists Association (SAFJA) Awards, celebrating another dominant season with the Club sweeping the major accolades in both the women’s and men’s categories.
Boitumelo ‘Queen’ Rabale was crowned Women’s Footballer of the Season for the second consecutive year, underscoring her status as one of the most influential players in South African women’s football. The Lesotho international’s exceptional 2024 campaign was instrumental in guiding the Sundowns Ladies to yet another historic milestone—securing their fifth consecutive Hollywoodbets Super League title.
The Tshwane giants finished the 2024 season emphatically, amassing 83 points—14 clear of their nearest rivals. Sundowns Ladies recorded 27 wins from 30 matches, netting an astonishing 114 goals while conceding just 12, closing the campaign with an unmatched goal difference of +102. Rabale led the team’s scoring charts with 17 goals, once again proving decisive in front of the goal.
On the men’s side, Iqraam Rayners capped off a stellar year by being named Men’s Footballer of the Season. The Sundowns forward delivered a prolific campaign, recording 22 goals and 9 assists across five competitions. In the Premier Soccer League alone, he struck 14 times, ranking among the most lethal attackers in the country and becoming a key figure in Sundowns’ attacking arsenal.
This year’s double triumph is historic, as it is only the third occasion that Mamelodi Sundowns players have simultaneously claimed both the men’s and women’s Footballer of the Season awards. The first came in 2020, when Themba Zwane and Rhoda Mulaudzi won the inaugural honors. The feat was repeated in back-to-back years, with Peter Shalulile (2021) and Bambanani Mbane (2021), followed by Shalulile again in 2022 alongside Mbane, before Rabale and Rayners’ remarkable achievement in 2025.
The 2025 SAFJA Awards sweep not only reflects the individual brilliance of Rabale and Rayners but also reinforces Sundowns’ reputation as the benchmark of excellence in South African football—on both the domestic and Continental stage.
