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Cape Town - Orlando Pirates midfielder Menzi Masuku has replaced Mamelodi Sundowns and U23 captain Keagan Dolly for the 2016 COSAFA Cup in Namibia.
Masuku played a key role in securing the South African U23's Olympics berth, however a lack of opportunities and a dip in form saw the 23-year-old fall out of favour at club level for Eric Tinkler's side.
Moroka Swallows and U20 international defender Repo Malepe also joined the squad after competing in Amajita's 2-0 victory against Namibia in an African Youth Championships qualifier at the FNB Stadium on Saturday
Defender Rivaldo Coetzee also joined the squad after being given time to rest following Bafana's 4-0 victory in their 2017 AFCON qualifier against Gambia.
Changes were made to squad following the absences of U23 captain Dolly and striker Lebogang Mothiba.
South Africa will participate in the competition from the quarter-final stage onwards, where they will take on the Group B winners on 18 June.
According to the PSL's official website, Mashaba believes that this tournament, which runs from June 11th-25th, should be utilised in preparing the 'future teams.'
"After long deliberations with the other coaches regarding the COSAFA Cup, we came to the conclusion that we must use this tournament to build our future teams," Mashaba said.
"Many a time we as national team coaches always talk about how little time we have with the players ahead of a big game and how we didn’t have enough time to prepare but now we have ample time to do that.
"The 2016 squad for the COSAFA Cup is mainly made up of U23 players and we are using the tournament as part of the preparations for the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics."
The squad will depart for Windhoek on Wednesday, 15 June.
