SAFA explain why Molefi Ntseki will take over Bafana CHAN squad
SAFA have explained the decision to turn to former Kaizer Chiefs mentor Molefi Ntsek to take over as Bafana Bafana CHAN qualifiers coach ahead of the Egypt tie over the weekend.
This follows the announcement that national team assistant coach Helman Mkhalele has stepped back from coaching the SA CHAN qualifiers squad, stating that his priority is with Bafana Bafana, who will compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin in a few weeks.
Ntseki will temporarily take over as Bafana coach to replace Mkhalele, with assistance from SA Under-20 head coach Raymond Mdaka.
The former technical director of Marumo Gallants received a recommendation from the SAFA technical committee at the association’s most recent NEC meeting.
Bafana will take on Egypt on Sunday, 2 March 2025. The game will take place at the Free State Stadium, with the kick-off set for 17:00.
WHAT SAFA SAID ABOUT MOLEFI NTSEKI’S APPOINTMENT
SAFA technical committee chairman Jack Maluleke revealed that the SA Football Association opted for Ntseki because he is more qualified, having coached the national team before.
“Remember, in the last NEC meeting, the SAFA technical committee recommended coach Molefi Ntseki after he was interviewed to head the technical development of SAFA, specifically the academies and junior teams as a manager,” said Malukele.
“After we got information that the South African senior national team coach requested that Helman Mkhalele must be recused from this team because we have the priority of Bafana Bafana playing 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin in a few weeks’ time, we agreed.
“Therefore, we as SAFA realised that after the NEC endorsed the name Molefi Ntseki, we had to check who could replace Mkhalele at this point in time. We thought of him [Ntseki] because he’s the most senior, and we requested him to be deployed there on a temporary basis to step in for Helman, and he will be assisted by the head coach of the SA U-20s [Mdaka].”
Malukele continued: “Coach Ntseki is there because he’s in the system, and we requested him to assist because we needed somebody who could step in because this is an urgent matter.”
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