Lebone Seema's Rise at Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana Selection

Lebone Seema’s rise at Orlando Pirates has hit a new peak, and the reward is as big as it gets: a place in Pitso Mosimane’s final Bafana Bafana squad for the looming AFCON qualifiers.

The timing could hardly be better. On Thursday night at Orlando Stadium, Seema didn’t just help Pirates to a 2-0 win over Durban City – he put his name on the scoresheet as well. The performance underlined why the national coach has been tracking him, and it left Pirates boss Abdeslam Ouaddou in no doubt about what it all means.

“First of all, I really congratulate him and all the other members of the team who have been called to the national team,” Ouaddou said after the match, his pride obvious. “I thank as well Pitso to call him. It means that he was following his work since last season. He's the future.”

For Ouaddou, this is not a bolt from the blue. He has seen the work behind the scenes, the grind that never makes the highlight reels.

Hard coaching, big rewards

The Moroccan coach has driven Seema hard, sometimes to the edge. He makes no attempt to hide it.

“I'm not surprised, he's somebody that has the good mentality, professional, coachable,” Ouaddou explained. “It's very important for me because to improve, you need to be coachable and you need to be able to understand and to listen. He starts to know me now. Sometimes I can be hard with him.”

Then came the real admission.

“Last season, I was really, really hard with him. But for his good, for his performance, we spoke a lot, we worked a lot about the quality of his passes, the alternation of short passes, long passes, the duels.”

Those details have become the foundation of Seema’s game. The cleaner passing, the decision-making between going short or long, the aggression in one-on-ones – all of it has pushed him from promising defender to full international.

Now he carries that development into a different arena, where every mistake is magnified and every touch is judged.

From Mayfair to Mosimane

Ouaddou is convinced Seema’s tactical intelligence will translate smoothly into Mosimane’s system with Bafana Bafana. The defender has already shown he can digest complex instructions and apply them under pressure, a non-negotiable at international level.

“But of course, like you said, he has a lot of matches of progression,” the coach added. “I'm really, really happy. Our technical staff and the club are very happy about this call. I hope he's going to continue and to bring us this experience as well from the national team.”

South Africa now turn their attention to crucial AFCON qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea, and Seema steps into that picture as part of a new wave under Mosimane. He is viewed as a long-term piece in the national backline, valued not only for his defending but for his ability to play out from the back and adapt to different roles.

Back at Mayfair, there will be no easing off. Ouaddou has already promised to keep the standards high, to keep pushing.

The international break, then, is no holiday. It is an audition.

“He's the future of South Africa. We have such talent in that position in South Africa. I hope this call will give him confidence to continue to work, to grow. Again, thanks to Pitso to see his qualities,” Ouaddou concluded.

Now it is over to Seema – to turn promise into permanence on the biggest stage South African football can offer.