Goals from Zakhele Lepasa and Mihlali Mayambela in either half of the encounter secured the AFCON spot for Bafana as they qualified for their first AFCON tournament since 2019.

The qualification brought huge relief to Bafana coach Hugo Broos, who could not finish watching a nightmare unfold in front of his eyes in Thursday's home match at Orlando Stadium where his team allowed 150th-ranked Liberia to come back from 2-0 down and draw 2-2. 

Bafana took a 19th minute lead in Monrovia through man of the match match Lepasa but just as they did in Soweto, Broos' team too easily allowed Liberia striker William Jebor an equaliser in the 35th minute.

Bafana's winner came as they piled on the pressure early in the second half, Mayambela stroking in after Percy Tau's cross was not dealt with by Lone Stars goalkeeper Tommy Songo.  

The victory means Bafana have four points in group K after three matches with a game in hand against Morocco in June.