This Safarring has to come to a halt
TODAY it is exactly 169 days since Shakes Mashaba was suspended and subsequently fired by the South African Football Association (Safa). His replacement? Dololo. The Safa dodos are dealing with an issue of national importance as though they were addressing a DDPF: Danny and Dennis’s personal fiefdom.
It is one thing to the nation to be taken for granted. It is another to be insulted, disrespected in the callous manner that Safa is displaying towards 54 million plus South Africans.
These mandarins are free from fathoming that they are in charge of a national institution as opposed to a football club that belongs to Danny Jordaan and Dennis Mumble.
This country has had caretaker coaches in the past. But in all those instances we were never subjected to such an amount of Safa’s dilly-dallying and pussy-footing in finding a permanent incumbent.
Safa have missed several of their own deadlines in closing this chapter. They continue to speak with forked tongues as they froth from the mouth with endless and senseless excuses.
Before the two friendly matches against GuineaBissau, Jordaan said we’ll announce a coach after the match.
Then the new man was going to be announced after the Angola game.
The level of contradiction between Safa and Stuart Baxter would rival that of a dinner date between Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Both of them are not speaking the same language.
Perhaps we need that sign-language interpreter from Nelson Mandela’s memorial to make sense of the gibberish that we have had to contend with for the better part of almost a month of Safa trying to woo Baxter.
Now SuperSport have issued an ultimatum to Safa: conclude your conversation with Baxter by Wednesday or cut the crap.
“It’s very simple — we gave them a week‚ they’ve taken three. It’s not satisfactory for us‚ and it’s not satisfactory for Stuart‚” United chief executive Stan Matthews said.
“And unfortunately he had to have an operation yesterday(on Tuesday‚ so he’s out of commission for a week‚ so I don’t want to stress him during that time. But if the situation is not resolved by the middle of next week‚ we’re going to call it off‚ or we are going to make our own announcement.”
Who can blame United? Their contestation for the league championship took a nosedive as soon as Baxter got attracted by Safa’s not-so-charming advances. In mid-March, before jetting off to Addis Ababa for the Confederation of African Football elections, Jordaan said: “Next week, this week is Caf week . . . We are now at the stage where we have to deal with the termination of a contract, and the signing of a contract.”
Danny did it again when he said we have a coach. Baxter said you are fibbing.
Mumble mumbled something along the lines that they were not talking to only one person.
The conspiracy theorist in me doesn’t believe there is someone else.
If there is, then it is highly probable that the individual in question is Santa, the tooth fairy or the bunny himself. If not an elf.
Jordaan has got the seat he has longed craved at the top table of the Caf executive committee.
If only he can bring finality on the vacant Bafana job with the same expediency that was on display for his personal ascendancy to the top echelon of the continental governing body.
Unless of course we must all conclude that Safa was declared a personal fiefdom when we all assumed a head-buried-in-the-sand ostrich position. For Jordaan and Mumble to knowingly behave as if this is a matter of triviality is insanity. This Saffaring has to come to a halt.