It could have been much tougher for Bafana, but it is also no easy ride with three tricky sides, including minnows Eritrea, who will be something of an unknown quantity.
Here is a quick guide to who they will face.
Kenya
World ranking: 111
The East African side are coached by Benni McCarthy, who hods the Bafana Bafana record for most international goals scored with 31 in a career that spanned 12 years.
He might have won many more internationals caps, and scored more goals, were it not for constant fallouts with the South African Football Association.
McCarthy will relish facing his countymen and have a deep understanding of how to beat them. Whether he has the players to do the job is another question.
Kenya last qualified for the continental finals in 2019 and have never been past the group stages in six previous visits to the tournament.
They can build through the qualifiers with no real pressure and look forward to a finals on home soil, and McCarthy will be keen to use the matches to build depth.
Most of their players are either home-based or feature in the lower leagues in Europe.
Then recent retirement of Victor Wanyama makes no difference to the side, he had not played for them since 2020.
McCarthy has two internationals coming up next month as the Harambee Stars take on Palestine and Kyrgyzstan away in Bishkek and have called up several English players of Kenyan heritage. South Africa are unbeaten in four past games against the Harambee Stars. Bafana won 1-0 in the Four Nations Cup in 1996 and drew 1-1 in the Castle Cup in Arusha, Tanzania, in 2002. In 2011, South Africa beat Kenya in a friendly at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace, and the next year won 2-1 in Nairobi, courtesy of a second-half own goal in another friendly international.
Eritrea
World ranking: 184
The hermit state on the Red Sea played its first football international in more than six years in March after entering the preliminaries for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals and surprisingly beating Eswatini over two legs.
Eritrea had not participated in any internationals since January 2000, eschewing the opportunity to compete in World Cup and Cup of Nations qualification after players consistently defected while on away trips.
Eritrea has been ruled by President Isaias Afwerki since gaining independence in 1993, and human rights groups consistently describe his rule as highly repressive.
Seven players defected after the away tie in Eswatini, making it likely that Eritrea might withdraw from the group phase. South Africa has yet to play Eritrea and they will become the 97th different opponent for the side in international football since readmission in 1992.
Guinea
World ranking: 80
The Syli Nationale have not proven able to host an international for the last three years after renovations to the September 28 Stadium in Conakry, but were hoping to have it ready later this year.
Guinea did not qualify for the last Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco, but before that had got past the first round in three successive editions.
In the Ivory Coast in 2024, they reached the quarter-final. Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte took over as coach last August and has made it his mission to find more players of Guinean heritage in Europe to strengthen the national side.
They will play a friendly against Northern Ireland in neutral Spain on June 4. Guinea are unbeaten in three previous meetings, 2-0 at the 2006 Cup of Nations finals in Egypt and also 1-0 in a friendly in Atteridgeville in 2008.
The only other meeting between the two countries was a friendly in neutral Belgium in 2022, which ended goalless.
They did also meet at the African Nations Championship finals in Kampala, Uganda in August last year, which South Africa won 2-1 with their hone-based squad of players.