Akhoma Makalima is an international female referee that hails from South Africa. She has been listed as an international referee for FIFA since 2014.

She is one of the best female referees in Africa. She holds a national diploma in human resource management from King Hintsa FET College.

In November 2021, she was the first female referee to officiate the first CAF Women’s Champions League in Cairo, Egypt. Asides her international records, she has also set several records in her own country. She is the first certified female football referee in South Africa, she has officiated for FIFA in the local South African Premier Soccer League and the women’s league as well.

She is also a very athletic woman who loves to sprint when officiating. Over the past few years she has proven her professionalism and dedication to the game

Owing to her dedication, she has been appointed as one of the referees for the FIFA women’s World Cup which will be taking place from the 20th of July till the 20th of August, 2023. 

She said the appointment is one of the greatest achievements in her rising career and she was looking forward to the tournament and to making her country proud. She stated “it is always satisfying when you put all the hard work and you see it paying off. SAFA and most officials have been putting in a lot of hard work to improve the officiating in the country and the number of officials appointed for FIFA and CAF tournaments is a testament to the Association and the official’s hard work. My heart is filled with huge excitement and gratitude. This is what we all strive for as match officials; officiating at the biggest stage and I really want to thank all those involved in this project for a job well done. I am really overwhelmed with emotions, words cannot express my excitement”.