WeeklySA_AdminNO CONFIDENCE: FROSTY RELATIONS DEVELOPING BETWEEN BAFANA BAFANA AND MINISTER OF SPORT
By Ali Mphaki
They may be young, gifted and patriotic, but their supersized egos can be easily bruised. And when a sports Minister disses them in public, it really hurts.
“I don’t have confidence in Bafana and Danny Jordaan,’ Minister Gayton McKenzie would tell all and sundry while heaping praise on the Springboks. McKenzie was speaking at a Nedbank Cup event, where Orlando Pirates, as the competition’s champions, handed over a multi-purpose sports court to Orlando’s Job Rathebe Junior Secondary School last weekend.
It would seem it did not matter for Mckenzie that Bafana were able to salvage a hard-fought 2-all draw against a stubborn Uganda at the Orlando Stadium on Friday evening.
The timing of the Minister’s utterance is also questionable as Bafana were already enroute to South Sudan to get their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying campaign back on track when they face South Sudan in Juba on Tuesday afternoon.
But like true warriors in the making and far from being despondent, Bafana Bafana were able to hold their chin up high and went on to earn three points against an aggressive South Sudan away on Tuesday.
Thalente Mbatha scored another dramatic late strike for Bafana Bafana as the South Africans beat South Sudan 3-2 in added time to win this away 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier at the Juba National Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
The hosts thought they had forced a 2-2 draw until Mbatha struck in the 93rd minute from outside the box to win the game in dramatic fashion, coming just days after he scored a similar goal against Uganda in added time that ensured a share of the spoils in an AFCON qualifier played at Orlando Stadium on Friday night.
The hosts were the first to find the back of the net after Tito Odong Okello converted from the penalty spot in the 15th minute. But Bafana Bafana responded almost immediately when Oswin Appollis equalised two minutes later. Appollis increased the lead to 2-1 when he scored just before the halftime break.
But the home side levelled matters when Yuel Kuach equalised in the 58th minute. Then, second half substitute Mbatha entered the fray when he scored the crucial winner during added time.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was happy after winning the three points in such dramatic fashion but added that he was not satisfied with the performance. He felt that his team could have wrapped up the game in the first half.
“I thank the good Lord upstairs, He was with us in this game, and also against Uganda (in the 2-2 draw last Friday). But we played better against Uganda, today we didn’t really play our best game. We should have done better. If we had done better, I think the score should not be 3-2, but maybe 5-2 or something for South Africa,” he said.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
A source close to the Bafana squad told Weekly SA Mirror that the minister’s remarks did not go down well with the players and technical committee.
“If anything, McKenzie’s utterances had the potential of destabilizing the team in their attempt to get their African Cup of Nations, Afcon, and 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign back on track,” he said.
McKenzie’s vitriol has echoes of former sports minister Fikile Mbalula who once labelled Bafana Bafana as a “bunch of losers”.
Interestingly, SAFA (in their wisdom) has declined to respond to McKenzie’s no-confidence jibe at Jordaan, the latter taking time off to visit injured Bafana player Sithole at a medical facility around Johannesburg on Friday where he is on full recovery.
