A knee injury has ruled South African defender Matthew Booth out of the World Cup squad.
Public television quoted South African Football Association (Safa) official Albert Mokoena saying Jacob Lekgetho from Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow would be drafted into the 23-man squad.
Mokoena said Booth would return home this week from Hong Kong, where South Africa are competing in the Reunification Cup tournament with the hosts, Scotland and Turkey.
Booth, who plays for three-time South African Premiership winners Sundowns, injured his knee during training on Tuesday and was ruled out after medical tests.
The late inclusion of Lekgetho signals a welcome change of fortune as he was ruled out of the 2002 African Nations Cup by injury. He was considered unlucky not to make the World Cup squad.
His inclusion should strengthen Bafana Bafana as there is a surplus of central defenders, while Lekgetho will cover the only specialist left-side defender, Bradley Carnell.
Coach Jomo Sono, whose team defeated Scotland 2-0 in their opening match, will tackle Turkey on Thursday.
Sono must hope that the withdrawal of Booth does not trigger another World Cup injury jinx. Goalkeeper Andre Arendse and replacement Paul Evans were ruled out of the 1998 World Cup in France by injuries.
South Africa have been drawn with Paraguay, Slovenia and Spain in Group B and launch their campaign on June 2 against the South Americans in the South Korean city of Busan.
Bafana Bafana, who failed to win and scored only once in four warm-up matches before overcoming a Scottish side being rebuilt by German coach Berti Vogts, are the group outsiders. ? Sapa-AFP