As Bafana Bafana idles at home watching the latest AFCON finals from a distance after failing to qualify, CAF has confirmed the qualification details for the next tournament in Cote d'Ivoire next year.
The continental mother body has also provided information on the playoffs qualification round for the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup – for which Bafana are also out after their controversial defeat to Ghana in November.
According to CAF, the preliminary round draw for the next Afcon finals will be held on Friday in Douala, Cameroon (15:00 GMT).
The 12 bottom ranked countries from the continent will be divided into two levels with the top six playing against other six.
The COSAFA quartet of Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Mauritius is joined by Gambia and South Sudan in the top tier while Chad, Sao Tome Principe, Djibouti, Somalia, Seychelles, and Eritrea are the six-bottom placed.
As is the norm the first leg will be played at the home of the lower ranked nation.
Scroll through the gallery to see South Africa's all-time leading goalscorers in World Cup qualifiers
The six aggregate winners will then join the 42 highest ranked teams on the continent – who include South Africa – in the group stages of the qualifiers.
Just like the current tournament in Cameroon, 24 countries will qualify with Bafana hard pressed to make it through.
For the final round of qualifiers to determine the five nations heading to the World Cup, the top ranked (according to the November FIFA rankings) will play the bottom five.
Ghana, who elbowed out Bafana Bafana, find themselves in the bottom half along with Egypt, Cameroon, Mali and DR Congo.
The top half is led by Senegal joined by Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Nigeria.
This World Cup draw will also be held in Douala though on Saturday (15h00 GMT).