The proteas came out to quite the welcome during the opening ceremony of the Netball World Cup in Cape Town on Friday evening.
Fans gathered at the Cape Town International Convention Centre screamed with excitement as they got the chance to see their netball heroes take to the stage.
The tournament got underway at 9am on Friday morning as current champions New Zealand and world number side Australia registering wins on the first day.
Led out by captain Bongi Msomi, the crowd were in full voice showing their support for the home team.
As always, New Zealand enjoy good support in the Mother City, and that was no different when the Silver Ferns made their way onto the stage.
The fans also got a glimpse of the tournament’s tallest player, Sri Lanka’s Tharjini Sivalingam, who comes in at 2.06 meters tall. The island nation will also take on the hosts at 4pm on Saturday.
Among the dignities for the the event was Netball South Africa president Cecilia Molokwane, the country’s deputy president Paul Mashatile, Western Cape premier Alan Winde, and World Netball head Liz Nicholl.
The ceremony had a distinct South African flavour with poet Lebo Mashile performing a poem, and local artist Presss keeping the crowd entertained.