South African football supporters face mounting uncertainty about their national team’s readiness as the sport’s governing body grapples with fundamental questions of accountability and resource management. With Bafana Bafana set to begin their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign next month against Guinea and Eritrea, the South African Football Association (SAFA) is mired in disputes over misused public funds, unresolved coaching contracts, and administrative failures that threaten the team’s stability.
A parliamentary committee hearing this week exposed deep fractures between the Sports, Arts and Culture Ministry and SAFA leadership. The confrontation centered on two issues with direct consequences for the national team’s operations: the complete failure to implement Video Assistant Referee technology despite receiving R30 million in government funding, and protracted negotiations over the salary for incoming coach Pitso Mosimane that have stalled his official appointment.
The VAR situation crystallizes the governance crisis. SAFA received R30 million from the government specifically to deploy the technology across domestic football ahead of the new Premier Soccer League season. The deadline passed with no operational system in place. Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie, visibly frustrated at the committee hearing, disclosed that SAFA ignored multiple written requests for accountability and has now been ordered to return the full amount immediately.
“I have been dragged in the media and it seems like SAFA does not care,” McKenzie told the Sport, Arts and Culture Portfolio Committee. “We wrote a letter to SAFA, which was ignored. How do you ignore me after receiving my money? I then wrote a subsequent letter where I said to them they must return the R30-million with immediate effect.”
SAFA chief executive Lydia Monyepao and her team could not articulate clear timelines or provide feasibility studies for the technology rollout. Democratic Alliance MP Leah Potgieter challenged the initial decision to disburse public funds without a concrete FIFA-compliant implementation plan already in place. When SAFA requested a 21-day grace period to respond, lawmakers rejected the request outright.
The Mosimane contract dispute adds another layer of public concern. Although SAFA’s National Executive Committee approved his appointment on August 8, official confirmation remains blocked over compensation terms. Reports that SAFA offered the three-time CAF Champions League winner substantially lower pay than his Belgian predecessor Hugo Broos prompted sharp criticism from the minister, who framed the issue as a matter of equity and national pride.
Speaking at the 2026 South African Sport Awards in Sun City, McKenzie articulated the historical weight of the dispute. “Pitso Mosimane is not a coach of the ABC Motsepe League. Let us be straight about that issue,” he said. “We come from a country where black people were paid less than white people. Those scars haven’t healed for many people. But we, as black people, cannot do the same thing that has been done to us, where we pay the white man more.”
Mosimane’s continental credentials are undisputed. His three CAF Champions League titles, earned across stints with Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly, rank among the most accomplished records on the continent. McKenzie insisted that negotiations should begin at minimum parity with Broos’s contract. “The least they could do is start him with the same salary they started with Hugo Broos,” he added. “It’s like we are scared of white people, where we pay them more but when it comes to black people, it’s a different story.”
The parliamentary confrontation escalated when Monyepao was removed from the sitting by committee chairperson Joseph McGluwa after she refused to disclose the exact figures in Broos’s remuneration package, citing confidentiality agreements. The refusal to provide transparent information deepened lawmakers’ frustration with SAFA’s accountability record. Further details on these governance issues can be found at https://mg.co.za/news/sport/2026-08-26-accountable-to-no-one-safa-s-governance-failures-are-stalling-bafana-s-new-era/
Meanwhile, the contract and financial disputes occur against a backdrop of recurring operational failures. During the hearing, SAFA acknowledged persistent administrative breakdowns, including visa delays and logistical oversights previously managed under former team manager Vincent Tseka. His earlier error regarding Teboho Mokoena’s suspension status had endangered Bafana’s World Cup qualification campaign.
As September’s AFCON qualifiers approach in Group D, the national team requires both tactical coherence and dependable administrative support. Whether SAFA can resolve its standoff with Mosimane and account for its public funding commitments will determine whether Bafana Bafana begin their new era with institutional stability, or whether supporters are left watching familiar governance dysfunction play out on the international stage.