Coach Molefi Ntseki admits Bafana Bafana had a poor game against Sao Tome and Principe and will have to deal with them differently in the second leg.
Despite goals from Percy Tau and Bongani Zungu in the second half of a 2-0 win at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Friday night, the hosts struggled to play in the first half.
"We were scrappy at the beginning and we didn't get our foot right. At times you get frustrated if you are on the pitch and things don't come out the way you love them to be, but second half was better," Ntseki said.
"Giving respect to Sao Tome, they have got nothing to lose, we have got everything to lose if we don't get a positive result [in Port Elizabeth on Monday].
"So it means it will be for us to take the game to them like we did tonight. So it's not like maybe we are going to take the foot off the pedal and say‚ 'It is their game.'
"It is our game‚ being in SA. Even if we were to play in Sao Tome it would be the same. Because in every game we are fully aware that we cannot just allow Ghana to run away with the group. We are also a force to be reckoned with."
Check out South Africa's top scorers in AFCON qualifying history
Ntseki, who is expected to make changes on Monday, says his players are aware that doing well in the qualifiers will make sure they climb the FIFA rankings, which will also benefit them in terms of moving abroad.
"We can only ever get respect if we do well against teams like Ghana‚ who are No. 6 in Africa‚ and we are No. 13. We want to be in the top 10‚ and to do that we have to play well and win games," he added.
"CAF and FIFA rankings are very important. It's been some time since we've been out of the top 10 in Africa and the top 50 in the world. So the likes of Percy [Tau] and his teammates are fully aware that we have to work very hard to turn things around."