Olwethu Makhanya's New Era with Bafana Bafana

Olwethu Makhanya does not sound like a player looking back. He sounds like a defender who believes his international career is only just getting started.

For a long stretch under former Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos, the Rangers centre-back stood on the outside looking in. One of South Africa’s most highly regarded defensive exports, yet watching from the bench when the world was watching Bafana at the FIFA World Cup in June.

He felt it. Deeply.

A new era, under Pitso Mosimane, has cracked the door back open. For Makhanya, it feels like more than a tactical reset. It feels personal.

"I saw the coaching change as an opportunity for a fresh start in the national team because I always felt like I was overlooked by the previous coach," he told SABC Sport. No diplomacy. Just a clear sense that his time in the national set-up never truly began under the Belgian.

Broos’ reign was defined by more than just team selections. His public swipe at Major League Soccer, where Makhanya spent a key stage of his development, struck a nerve. The former Bafana coach repeatedly questioned the standard of the American top flight, implying it did not prepare players for the highest level.

From Makhanya’s perspective, that criticism cut across his career, not just his club choice.

"I never understood the criticism because all these people probably never actually watched the MLS. People that really watch that league will tell you that it's high level football," he said, defending a competition he knows from the inside.

This was not a vague defence of a former employer. It was a rebuttal from a player who believes perceptions, not performances, shaped his international prospects.

The narrative around MLS has long been split: a destination league for ageing stars, or a serious, athletic competition producing hardened professionals. Makhanya is firmly in the second camp. He has lived it, then tested himself elsewhere.

And he is not shy about where those experiences rank.

"Honestly, if I were to rank them, I'll put the Scottish Premiership first, second is the MLS, and the Betway Premiership is third."

That order tells its own story. The Scottish Premiership, where he now anchors the Rangers back line, gets top billing for its intensity and relentlessness. MLS, in his eyes, follows closely behind, a league that sharpened his tools and deserves far more respect than it receives from some corners of the European and African game. The Betway Premiership, where he first emerged, completes the trio.

For Bafana, the question is no longer whether Makhanya has the pedigree. His club trajectory answers that. The real question, as Mosimane reshapes the squad, is simple: does this new chapter finally give him the platform he has been waiting for?