"The National Executive Committee has approved the appointment of Mosimane, but we still have to finalise some outstanding details." SAFA president Danny Jordaan said those words — and that was enough. Pitso Mosimane is back in charge of Bafana Bafana.
The South African Football Association's National Executive Committee gave the green light during an extraordinary meeting at the association's headquarters, ending a search that began when Hugo Broos stepped down last month. The official announcement is expected within the week, with a few contractual loose ends still to be tied off.
What Broos left behind — and what Mosimane is walking into
It's worth putting Broos's tenure in context before writing it off. He took Bafana Bafana to the 2026 World Cup and, more than that, got them through to the second round — the first time South Africa have ever reached that stage. That's the job Mosimane is inheriting: a squad with genuine momentum, a fanbase that's finally dreaming again, and expectations that are now measurably higher than they've been in a generation.
That cuts both ways for Mosimane. The goodwill is there. So is the pressure.
He arrives with a CV that few African coaches can match. Al Ahly. Mamelodi Sundowns. Stints in Saudi Arabia with Al Ahli and the UAE with Al Wahda. He knows how to manage expectation at big clubs, how to navigate continental competition, and — crucially — how to build squads that peak in knockout football. Those are exactly the qualities Bafana Bafana need if they want the next World Cup cycle to end somewhere beyond the round of 32.
A squad worth betting on to develop further
South Africa's odds to progress at future tournaments just got more interesting. Mosimane has a track record of taking teams with a ceiling and finding a way through it — his CAF Champions League work with Al Ahly alone demonstrated an ability to win in hostile, high-stakes environments. If he can bring that to a national team setup with genuine young talent coming through, Bafana Bafana's price as a dark horse in AFCON and beyond deserves a second look.
The formal announcement is still a few days away. But the decision's already been made.
