Saturday Dispatch No end to Bafana woes

FOR close on two decades, Bafana Bafana have languished in the shadow of the continental giants on the international front and despite all the efforts by the powers that be, they just seem rooted to the ground.

It has been an uphill slog for the national team to reach the heights of 1996 when Bafana won the African Cup of Nations, the continent’s prestigious showpiece, before a teeming FNB Stadium.

With the axing of the successful Clive Barker, whose motivational nous guided the Class of ’96 to the zenith of their success, there has been very little to crow about.

Those were heady days when Africa begrudgingly held the South Africans in awe. But despite the SA Football Association’s overtures to keep any momentum, Bafana Bafana have failed to reach those lofty heights.

Coaches have been sacked with such regularity it proved quite embarrassing, raising doubt Bafana would ever really get it right and worryingly face an uphill battle to reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

In a 2017 African Nations Cup qualification match against Mauritania, coach Shake Mashaba’s men could only muster a 1-1 draw, which elicited harsh criticism by Safa president Danny Jordaan, who stated “this must be the end of the journey, not the beginning because this cannot lead us into the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign where we will meet the giants of the African continent”.

Those comments stung, with Mashaba sensing the writing was on the wall for his stay as head coach.

Last weekend it all came to a head when, after beating Senegal 2-1 in a World Cup group qualifying match, Mashaba did the unthinkable by ranting at Jordaan in the full glare of the public.

He was summarily suspended from his post and now faces a disciplinary hearing for his preposterous display. It may have paid Mashaba, who has a tendency to blow his top at everyone he sees as an “enemy”, to have vented his feelings in private.

He has since apologised for his outburst, but it is hard to see how he can survive the chop. He may feel hard done by and could follow the route Pitso Mosimane took in 2010 when he questioned his dismissal after a poor run as Bafana coach and took his case to the Labour Court.

World controlling body Fifa frowns on football matters resolved in the courts and may not be happy about such possible action again.

The next qualification match against Cape Verde is about nine months away and may force Safa’s hand to let Mashaba go.

Public spats between high-ranking officials always leave a bitter taste, but may signal all is not well at Safa House.