South African Football Association (Safa) is set to consult with the SA government before they can consider bidding for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
Safa's acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Russell Paul, confirmed that they haven't been officially contacted by the Confederation of African Football (Caf).
Caf stripped Cameroon the rights to host the tournament on Friday due to the delays in their preparations for Africa' biggest showpiece in soccer.
"We have to deal with government first before we can talk about the desire to hosts. For now it is premature for me to talk about wanting to host the tournament. We have to consult with government first. Caf haven't formally approached us. Even if they do but there's the bidding process, " Paul said.
South Africa have successfully hosted two Afcon before in 1996 and 2013. They also became the first country in Africa to hosts the Fifa World Cup back in 2010.
It has emerged that South Africa is set to compete with Morocco about hosting the Afcon. Morocco have hosted Afcon once in their history. That was back in 1988.
The Afcon is set for next year June. Only one round of qualifiers is still remaining but countries like Uganda, Madagascar, Senegal, Morocco, Mali, Nigeria, Algeria, Guinea, Mauritania, Tunisia, Egypt and Ivory Coast have booked their place in to the tournament.
Bafana Bafana have been heavily criticised in the past for playing in major tournaments as hosts and fail when they have to do it via qualification process. They are also on the verge of missing out of the tournament if they lose to Libya in March. Only a single point will see Bafana booking their spot in to the Afcon but maybe they won't need that if Caf decide to hand them the rights to hosts the Afcon.