Ronwen Williams has been Bafana Bafana’s captain and a long-time first-choice goalkeeper for South Africa since AFCON 2019. His stock rose following a breakout tournament at AFCON 2023 — held in early 2024 in Ivory Coast — and he joined Mamelodi Sundowns in 2022 after becoming national team captain in 2021. At Sundowns he is officially the club’s vice-captain but often serves as on-field captain when Themba Zwane does not play.
Williams was born in Gqeberha (then Port Elizabeth) on January 21, 1992. He entered SuperSport United’s academy in 2004 and spent 18 years with the club. SuperSport United later ceased to operate as a professional institution after its Premier Soccer League licence was sold to Siwelele FC.
Questions that Williams spent time with Tottenham Hotspur as a youth are not accurate, he has said. According to ESPN, Spurs had an academy partnership with SuperSport United and Williams took part in a 2008 youth tournament involving Tottenham and Manchester United, but he did not join the North London club.
AFCON 2023 brought Williams wider recognition. He kept a clean sheet in South Africa’s 2-0 last-16 win over Morocco and saved four penalties in the quarter-final shootout against Cape Verde after a 0-0 draw. South Africa lost the semi-final with Nigeria on penalties but won the third-place playoff shootout against DR Congo. Williams finished ninth in the 2024 Lev Yashin Trophy rankings and was later among the nominees for The Best FIFA Men’s 11 in 2025.
At club level Williams has won three South African Premiership titles, lifted the CAF Champions League in 2025-26 and was part of Mamelodi Sundowns’ 2023 African Football League success. Arguably, the only unfinished business in his career is silverware with Bafana Bafana.
