The Lionesses, who competed at Rio 2016, reached the last eight with a game to spare after thrashing debutants Ghana 36-0 before following it up with an emphatic 51-0 victory over Botswana in their second Pool A contest at the Mustapha Ben Jannet Stadium.

They completed their group matches with another 36-0 win, this time against Senegal.

With only one slot reserved for Africa at Tokyo 2020, the winner of the tournament will automatically punch a ticket to Japan next year.

That is unless the event is won by South Africa - as history suggests it will be. 

The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee have that ruled that even if their team do live up to their tag of favourites they will still not be allowed to take up the place at Tokyo 2020. 

That is because of a controversial rule preventing South African teams from qualifying from an African regional competition. 

The decision does not seem to have sapped the motivation of the Imbokodo, who scored 99 points without conceding any today. 

They beat last year's runners-up Uganda 32-0, then Zimbabwe 31-0 and Zambia 36-0.

But Imbokodo coach Paul Delport warned they need to improve. 

"We were far from our best today, and I thought we played poorly at times," he said. 

"The error rate was too high, and our decision-making was not good enough at times. 

"To be competitive come Sunday, we will have to improve in a number of departments."

South Africa have won six of the eight tournaments since it was first staged in 2008, beating Kenya in four of the finals.

The only times they not have lifted the trophy - in 2012 when Tunisia won and last year, when Kenya triumphed - was because they did not compete. 

The next best placed teams from the Rugby Africa Women's Sevens will be handed an Olympic lifeline by competing in a repecharge tournament in June 2020 alongside teams from Asia, Europe, Oceania and South America.