Bafana Bafana will return to Newlands to play either Malawi in a World Cup qualifier on July 7 or Portugal in a Nelson Mandela Challenge match in October.
And in another dramatic move, the Western Cape branch of the South African Football Association (Safa) is lobbying to move the BobSave Superbowl final between Santos and Sundowns on June 9 from Johannesburg to Newlands.
If they pull it off, it will be the first final played in Cape Town in the history of the Professional Soccer League.
Safa Western Cape president Vernon Seymour said yesterday the proposal to move the Malawi game from Bloemfontein to Newlands would be presented to Safa's national executive committee at the weekend.
The background to the latest developments concerning soccer at Newlands includes Safa moving this Saturday's Bafana game against Zimbabwe to Johannesburg a few weeks ago after alleging that the Cape Town unicity was racist.
Mayor Peter Marais has repeatedly said the question of soccer at Newlands was one of land use and not race.
The Newlands rugby stadium is zoned for rugby and the stadium authorities applied only recently to have it rezoned as a multi-purpose facility.
Councillor Bryan Watkyns, a member of the unicity's executive committee, who has been dealing with the Newlands soccer issue, said on Wednesday he was delighted that Safa had now decided to bring soccer back to Newlands.
He gave a commitment that the unicity would "do everything in its power to fast-track" the rezoning application. He has thrown his weight behind Newlands hosting Bafana against either Malawi or Portugal, as well as efforts to bring the BobSave final to the city.
Seymour said on Wednesday: "If we had a choice, we would want the Portugal game scheduled for October. Indications are that if we can demonstrate that the problem with playing at Newlands has been cleared up, the game will take place here."
But the biggest test would be whether the city can lobby Safa president Danny Jordaan to bring the BobSave Superbowl final to Newlands, he said.
"The bigger issue is not so much the international matches, but the local games. We are making overtures to Jordaan's office to bring the BobSave final to Newlands.
"The city knows what they must do from their side. They must not require us to apply for a permit. They are aware of the regulations. They must either grant waivers or simply authorise the playing of soccer at Newlands."
At the beginning of year, Seymour said, Safa had issued their programme for international matches after it had been decided at the Safa annual general meeting in October that the games should be spread around the country.
"We (Cape Town) wanted the Zimbabwe World Cup qualifier or Bafana's Nelson Mandela Challenge match against Portugal in October," he said.
When the Safa national executive decided to move the Zimbabwe game to Johannesburg after it had initially been given to Newlands, it had been done with the understanding that Newlands would still get a Bafana game if Cape Town "gets its act together".
Meanwhile, Sapa reports that in light of the Ellis Park tragedy, Safa has promised to double the number of security and emergency staff for the Bafana Bafana World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Safa general manager Dennis Mumble said yesterday that an estimated 40 000 spectators were expected, but tickets sales were still slow.