They may be unfamiliar to some, but the Johannesburg Giants have made a lot of noise over the last twelve months, making them one of the teams to watch out for at the 2026 Kalahari Conference in Pretoria, South Africa.
Formed in 2025, the Giants made an immediate impact by winning the South African National Club Championship in September last year.
Everyone is asking whether the Giants can build on this success when they host the 2026 BAL Kalahari Conference in Pretoria from 27 March to 5 April.
The club’s stated aim is “to elevate African basketball by building a world-class, culturally relevant sports and lifestyle brand that empowers players, inspires communities, and ignites a new generation of fans, both on and off the court”.
The Giants are the third South African club – after the Cape Town Tigers and MBB – to represent the country in the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
In the words of the Giants’ head coach Florsheim Ngwenya, the Giants “really want to make Johannesburg and South Africa proud. Last time [2025 Playoffs] the BAL was here, there was no South African team, so we wanted to correct that. That’s why we decided to set up a team to represent the country, the city, and the people of South Africa, and to put on a good show at the Basketball Africa League,” he said in a recent interview with local radio station 947.
During the Road to BAL qualifiers organised by FIBA and held between October and November 2025, the Johannesburg Giants appeared to be anything but a new team entering the African basketball scene.
After sweeping all their opponents in South Africa’s playoffs with a perfect 5–0 record, the Giants travelled north to Lusaka in Zambia, where they continued their winning streak. In the Zambian capital, they finished undefeated in another five Group E games of the Road to BAL.
They began the Elite 16 round in Nairobi, Kenya, with a 92–71 victory over Uganda’s Namuwongo Blazers, but then suffered their first loss of the campaign, losing 86–83 to the hosts, Nairobi City Thunder.
However, when it mattered most in the Elite 16 semifinals, the Giants shocked the star-studded Dar City team 71–69, with South African rising star Nino Dim pacing the Giants with a team-high 21 points.
Another South African star, Nkosinathi Sibanyoni, played a heroic role by blocking Youssoupha Ndoye’s shot in the final two seconds of the game. This prevented overtime and sealed the Giants’ automatic qualification for the 2026 BAL season.
Power forward Pieter Prinsloo is one of the most familiar faces in the history of the BAL. The South African international has played three seasons in the BAL with the Cape Town Tigers and MBB last season.
Although not the most versatile player, the 6-foot-10 Prinsloo is a terrific three-point shooter when left wide open. The Giants will rely on his leadership and experience, particularly in high-pressure situations.
Over the last few years, Nkosinathi Sibanyoni has also built a reputation as an exceptional rebounder who can play physically against taller and heavier opponents.
Twenty-five-year-old Nino Dim is one of the players to watch in the Giants’ rotation, mainly due to his ability to drive and score in difficult situations.
The Giants have just announced the signing of David Craig, a 7-foot-3 South African centre who can make a huge difference in the painted area with his rebounding and shot-blocking skills.
The Giants are expected to announce more new signings over the next few weeks.
Florsheim Ngwenya, a former player, is the man at the helm of the Johannesburg Giants.
As well as having coached the South African men’s team on several occasions, Ngwenya also coached the Cape Town Tigers in the BAL season.
He led the Giants to the 2025 South Africa Basketball National League (BNL) title and the South African national team at the 2009 and 2011 AfroBasket tournaments. He also orchestrated the Cape Town Tigers’ historic run to the 2024 BAL semi-final.
In his interview with the Johannesburg-based radio station 947, Ngwenya shed light on the Giants’ purpose, plans and future. He also explained which teams he is most looking forward to playing against in the 2026 Kalahari Conference.
Here are some extracts from Ngwenya’s interview.
“We want to show the talent that South Africa has in the sport. We strongly believe that we have talent that just needs to be nurtured properly and make sure that they get the opportunities that we, as Johannesburg Giants, want to give, we are 90 percent South African team with a lot of talent.
“When we formed the team, our goal wasn’t just to create a basketball club. We wanted to create a brand and a movement that would embody the potential culture and coolness of the sport.
“It took us some time to eventually establish the Giants. The Giants were formed when a couple of guys got together and said: “we have done this for this teams – I have done this for the Cape Town Tigers -. One of the co-owners of the club – Lesego Molebatsi – also played College basketball in the US for a number of years, and the chairperson of the club – Berlina Moroole played basketball.
“Now that we’ve got the BAL experience, nothing is going to shock us. Everyone is going to bring their A-game. Where they come from doesn’t matter; what matters is how well they prepare for BAL. You need to make sure you have a good coaching staff, and you must be honest about where you want to get to in the league.
“The Giants are a very good team. We have players who want to play for the team. The players understand what is at stake, but they also want to showcase their talent outside of the Giants at some point. That’s what the BAL offers. A South African kid might think that if he plays well for his own team, he might be spotted by APR, a club in Portugal or China, or even the G-League or NBA. Samkele Cele went to the NBA Summer League last summer.
“We’re looking forward to playing against the Nairobi City Thunder; we want revenge. Our relationship with Petro de Luanda is very strange. It’s a love-hate relationship. They are a Portuguese-speaking country, whereas we are English-speaking. They have been unbeaten both as a country and as a club, Petro de Luanda.”
The 2026 BAL Kalahari Conference is set to take place at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria from 27 March to 5 April. On the opening day, the hosts, the Johannesburg Giants, will face Tanzania’s Dar City.
