Bafana Bafana will open their CHAN 2018 qualifiers campaign in the second round when they take on Botswana in July 2017.

The South African national team has been given a bye in the first round of qualifiers of the Souther Zone qualifiers and have been seed in the second round of the 2018 African Nations Championship, where they will take on the Zebras.

The first leg of their qualifiers are set to take place in Botswana on the weekend of July 14, 15, 16, with the return leg scheduled for a week later in South Africa on July 21, 22, 23, 2017.

The winner looks set to face either Swaziland or Zambia, in the third round fixture which will also to be played over two legs and has been set for August 2017. The second leg will take place between August 18 and 20.

The winners in the third round two-legged fixture will then qualify for the Chan 2018, which is also known as the Total African Nations Championship in Kenya in 2018, which will be held between January 11 and February 2, 2018, in Kenya.

However, only national team players who are playing in their respective countries’ domestic league are eligible to compete in the tournament.

DR Congo are currently the defending champions of the tournament after having lifted the Chan trophy in Rwanda last year, while the South African national team, who have only reached the group stages, have hosted the tournament back in 2014.

A total of 16 teams will be participating in the final tournament, including Kenya who qualified automatically as hosts of the competition, while the draw for the first round took place on February 3, 2017, in Libreville, Gabon.