Most crucially would be to claim a first victory, with the four previous meetings ending in three Bafana wins and a draw.
But Kenya have also never scored against South Africa from open play, with both their goals in those four games coming from the penalty spot, through John Muyoti in 2002 and Dennis Oliech in 2012.
None of the previous meetings have been in Africa Cup of Nations or World Cup qualifiers, which makes Friday’s clash another first.
Kenya have had success of sorts, though. They drew their 2002 Castle Lager Cup semifinal 1-1 in Arusha, with the Harambee Stars going on to win the penalty shootout.
Kenya converted all five penalties in the shootout, while South Africa's Lebohang Kukame had his attempt saved. The result still goes down as a draw in the official records.
Bafana have kept two clean sheets, in their 1-0 victory in 1996 and 2-0 success in 2011, while the latter, a friendly international, remains their biggest win in this fixture.
Davide Somma scored after just 67 seconds in the 2011 meeting, the quickest goal in the four matches. Steven Pienaar added a second before halftime under current coach Pitso Mosimane, who was then in his second spell with the national team.
The two countries last met in 2012, when South Africa secured a 2-1 victory in Nairobi, meaning it will be more than 14 years between fixtures.
Bafana have had five different scorers against Kenya in previous meetings in the form of Dumisa Ngobe, Lebohang Kukame, Davide Somma, Steven Pienaar and Tokelo Rantie. South Africa's sixth goal was a Kenyan own goal.
The winning goal in 2012 came from Kenya defender Christopher Wekesa, who put through his own net in the 76th minute, four minutes after Oliech had equalised from the penalty spot.