Phumza Maweni insists the Proteas still have time to get it right ahead of the World Cup

Maweni, the second-most capped Proteas player with 121 appearances behind former captain Bongiwe Msomi’s 171, says the team needs more matches against the top-ranked sides before the tournament.

However, she believes the technical team should take its time before selecting the final squad and make sure they choose the right combination of players.

"Ohhh, 100%, we do have time if you see now we have a year in between, I'm obviously gonna select some of the players to bring. I think they are gonna need to keep a squad as big as possible so that you select different players and test them against each other,” Maweni said. 

“They just need to make sure they don't select 15 players before time. I felt like that's what happened, we selected early and there was a lot of opportunity for other players to go in and fill the gap or contest or whatever but if they can just keep the squad as big as possible or they train together and keep it as big as it is then we can come up with a good team because there's a lot of talent here in South Africa."

Maweni, who helped Cape Town win the national netball championships as an assistant coach last month, says selecting a balanced squad will be key to the Proteas’ World Cup hopes.

She believes the team needs a good mix of experience and young talent. 

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Maweni was also pleased to see former Proteas defender Carla Pretorius continue to play a role before her retirement at the Commonwealth Games.

"When we select we need to look at who we are going to compete against and what are their strengths and weaknesses, what strength we have amongst us before we make a decision,” she added. 

“I think the call to bring a person like Karla for leadership, KC is very young even though she's a leader but you need someone who's older who will give her kind of a guidance."