Ajax's Steven Pienaar is out of the South Africa squad

Doctors have ruled that the Ajax Amsterdam player is not fit enough to travel to the competition.

Mokoena Teboho of Jomo Cosmos has been called into the squad to replace Pienaar.

The 21-year-old's withdrawal is the latest setback for Bafana Bafana, who are currently in the midst of a court case over the suspension of their coach Ephraim 'Shakes' Mashaba.

The South African squad are due to travel to Tunisia later this week under the leadership of assistant coach Styles Phumo.

Pienaar's absence means that the 1996 Champions are now without six key foreign-based players for the tournament, including Quinton Fortune of Manchester United and Benni McCarthy of FC Porto.

There are two other changes to the squad named back in early December, Neil Winstanley of Wits University replaces Charlton's Mark Fish while American-based striker Nkosinathi Nhleko is preferred to George Koumantarakis of Preston North End.

South Africa's Nations Cup campaign starts on 27 January against Benin in Sfax before later Group D clashes with Morocco and Nigeria.

South Africa Squad:

Goalkeepers:
Andre Arendse (Sundowns) Emile Baron (Lillestrom, Norway) Wayne Roberts (Wits University)

Defenders:
Tony Coyle (FC Rostov, Russia) David Kannemeyer (Kaizer Chiefs) Legethko Jacob (Lokomotive Moscow, Russia) Mbulelo Mabizela (Tottenham Hotspur, England) Aaron Mokoena (Genk, Belgium) Thabang Molefe (Le Mans, France) Neil Winstanley (Wits University)

Midfielders:
Delron Buckley (VFL Bochum, Germany) Stanton Fredricks (Kaizer Chiefs) Benson Mhlongo (Wits University) Bennet Mnguni (FC Rostov, Russia) John Moshoeu (Kaizer Chiefs) Jabu Pule (Kaizer Chiefs) Macbeth Sibaya (Rubin Kazan, Russia) Mokoena Teboho (Jomo Cosmos)