South Africa’s football public will be watching closely. Pitso Mosimane, the 62-year-old coach who once led Bafana Bafana and went on to win the African Champions League three times with Al Ahly, has been reappointed as head coach of the national team, giving millions of South African football supporters a familiar name at the helm once more.
The reappointment matters to fans because it follows a period of genuine progress. Hugo Broos, the Belgian coach who held the position for five years, guided Bafana Bafana to third place at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and into the last 32 of this year’s World Cup, the nation’s first appearance at the finals since South Africa hosted the tournament in 2010. Broos departed when his contract ended in late July, leaving supporters and administrators to decide what kind of leadership the team needed next.
The South Africa Football Association’s executive committee formally approved Mosimane’s reappointment on 8 August. His public unveiling followed in Johannesburg on Tuesday, after contract negotiations concluded and his technical staff was assembled. The specific duration of his contract has not been disclosed.
For supporters old enough to remember, this is a second chance. Mosimane previously managed Bafana Bafana from July 2010 to June 2012, a tenure that ended in painful fashion. The team believed a draw against Sierra Leone in their final group match would be enough to secure qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. It was not. That miscalculation cost South Africa their place at the continental tournament. Mosimane left the post in June 2012, shortly after a 1-1 home draw against Ethiopia in their opening qualifier for the 2014 World Cup.
What changed in the years that followed is a record that commands respect. After leaving the national setup, Mosimane built one of the most decorated coaching careers on the continent. He delivered sustained success with Mamelodi Sundowns before moving to Egyptian powerhouse Al Ahly, where he claimed the African Champions League three times. His career since then has taken him across multiple continents, with spells in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Iran.
The football association’s decision reflects a belief that his continental pedigree and familiarity with the national team’s structures outweigh the complications of his first stint. For ordinary South Africans who follow Bafana Bafana, the question is a practical one: can a coach who knows this team’s history, and its capacity for heartbreak, finally deliver the sustained results the public has long been waiting for?