The East African visitors caused an upset with their early goal in the 27th minutes from Salahdin Said Ahmed, who capitalised from a blunder by Bafana's left back Tsepo Masilela, who was later replaced by Punch Masenamela.
Despite the goal that silenced their fans at the Royal Bafokeng stadium, Bafana continued to dominate their opening World Cup qualifier match as always squandering numerous goal scoring opportunities.
Ethiopia came close to snatching a win few minutes after half-time when Said caught Bafana defenders off-guard, but this time, he shot wide.
In the second-half, the Ethiopians made things difficult for Bafana by defending in numbers, but Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane made some changes to break down the visitors solid defence. '
He replaced Reneilwe "Yeye" Letsholonyane with Orlando Pirates midfielder, Oupa "Ace" Manyisa, Thanduyise Khuboni with Teko Modise, who significantly brought back Bafana's confidence.
As a result, Bafana equalised in the 77th minute through Katlego 'Killer' Mphela.
Now it remains to be seen if Bafana will return with the three maximum points when they take on Botswana on their second World Qualifier match on Saturday, 9 June.
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