SOWETAN | Mosimane has solid Bafana to build on
Pitso Mosimane’s appointment as Bafana Bafana coach is precisely what the country needed to build on the progress the national team has made in the past few years. Mosimane returns to the position he first held between 2010 and 2012, when Bafana were in a poor state despite the country having just hosted the Fifa World Cup.
We remember our national side were so poor that they infamously became the first World Cup hosts in history to be eliminated at the first hurdle. It was unsurprising, then, that Mosimane inherited a team who a year later failed to qualify for the 2012 Afcon.
The situation is vastly different now. As he acknowledges, Mosimane has now found a team who have just made history by reaching the World Cup knockouts for the first time. Two years ago, they won the country a first medal at the Afcon since 2000, claiming bronze in Ivory Coast after making the semifinals against all odds.
Former coach Hugo Broos has laid a base and left a solid team on which Mosimane can build, not the ruins of the past. While five players − injured Khuliso Mudau, Thalente Mbatha, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Evidence Makgopa and the late Jayden Adams − are missing from the team who went to the World Cup, Mosimane has a chance to plot a fresh start for Bafana with the Afcon qualifiers against Eritrea and Guinea at the end of this month.
Having last coached a team in January 2025, Mosimane will have observed all the progress, positive or negative, of the national team from afar. Now he can implement his philosophy as he promised to the Safa executive, which recommended him for the job after a solid presentation two months ago.
While we welcome his return, we caution Mosimane to ensure he speaks out should he experience the kind of incompetence his predecessor Broos witnessed during his five-year tenure. We became aware of poor administration that could hardly secure training venues or visas for players. Safa must appoint a competent team manager to back Mosimane, so he finds no excuse should Bafana not do well.
We noticed concluding his contract took longer than normal, probably because he wanted to ensure he is not hoodwinked by the usually mischievous people at Safa House. But now we hope all that confusion is sorted to enable the coach to build on Broos’s relative success. Good luck, Pitso — we know you will deliver this time.