Lebone Seema's Rise at Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana Call-Up
Lebone Seema’s rise at Orlando Pirates has moved from promising subplot to headline act – and now it carries a Bafana Bafana badge.
The young defender’s form has earned him a place in Pitso Mosimane’s final squad for the upcoming AFCON qualifiers, a call-up that feels like the natural next step after weeks of steady, uncompromising performances in the Buccaneers’ backline.
On Thursday night at Orlando Stadium, Seema underlined that progress again. Pirates beat Durban City 2-0, and the defender helped himself to a goal in the process. The result mattered, but the bigger story sat in the way his club coach spoke about him afterwards.
Abdeslam Ouaddou did not hold back.
"First of all, I really congratulate him and all the other members of the team who have been called to the national team," the Pirates head coach said. "I thank as well Pitso [Mosimane] to call him. It means that he was following his work since last season. He's the future."
For Ouaddou, the Bafana nod is no shock. He has seen the work up close. He has also, by his own admission, made that work as uncomfortable as possible.
"But I'm not surprised he's somebody that has the good mentality, professional, coachable," he explained. "It's very important for me because to improve, you need to be coachable and you need to be able to understand and to listen."
That relationship has been forged in hard sessions and harder conversations. Ouaddou admitted he pushed Seema to the edge last season, demanding more from every touch and every duel.
"He starts to know me now. Sometimes I can be hard with him," the Moroccan tactician said. "Last season, I was really, really hard with him. But for his good, for his performance, we spoke a lot, we worked a lot about the quality of his passes, the alternation of short passes, long passes, the duels."
Those details have become the foundation of Seema’s game. The timing of his passes. The choice between going short or breaking lines. The willingness to step into contact and win battles. All of it has turned him from a prospect into a defender ready to test himself on the international stage.
Now he walks into a Bafana Bafana camp run by one of the most demanding coaches in African football. Ouaddou believes that is exactly where his player belongs.
Ouaddou is convinced Seema’s ability to soak up information will serve him well under Mosimane.
"But of course, like you said, he has a lot of matches of progression," he said. "I'm really, really happy. Our technical staff and the club are very happy about this call. I hope he's going to continue and to bring us this experience as well from the national team."
AFCON qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea are looming large for South Africa. In that pressure, Seema stands as a symbol of what Mosimane is trying to build: a new generation with the tools to play, not just survive, at this level.
At Pirates, the defender has already shown he can operate as more than a stopper. His versatility and comfort on the ball have marked him out as a long-term option for the national team’s defensive line, someone who can defend space and still help launch attacks.
Complacency, though, is unlikely to creep in. Ouaddou has made sure of that and promises to keep the demands high back in Mayfair, even as the praise grows louder.
The international break now offers Seema a different kind of examination. New teammates. A new voice on the touchline. The same expectation to deliver.
"He's the future of South Africa. We have such talent in that position in South Africa," Ouaddou concluded. "I hope this call will give him confidence to continue to work, to grow. Again, thanks to Pitso to see his qualities."
The stage is set. The question now is how far, and how fast, Lebone Seema can run with it.
