The euphoria produced by Bafana Bafana’s World Cup qualification has underscored Nelson Mandela’s sentiments that sport has a power to unite the nation.
Though the SA’s men senior team left it until the last moment to achieve the feat after subjecting the country to anxious moments when it was held to a draw by Zimbabwe in Durban four days earlier, the gallant performance they produced when beating Rwanda 3-0 in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, was worth the wait.
For a moment, old habits threatened to to flare up with calculators being whipped out to work out what Bafana needed to do to book a ticket to North America in 2026.
This was made worse by coach Hugo Broos’s admission that Bafana would bank on rivals Nigeria beating log leaders Benin to help the cause.
But Bafana Bafana still needed to go in there and do the job and the message seemed to have filtered down to the players, who produced a stupendous display when all the hopes were on them.
Now that Broos has fulfilled another mandate after returning the soccer nation to the international competitions, having done so when he took the team to the top-three spot at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast in 2023, it is time the national association does an in-house cleaning.
The bungle Safa made with the Teboho Mokoena debacle, which led to the team being docked three precious points, cannot be swept under the carpet.
Bafana Bafana team manager Vincent Tseki has constantly been mentioned as the culprit for not informing Broos of Mokoena’s booking, which made him ineligible to play against Lesotho in March.
The silence from Safa about this matter has been worrisome.
Since the fiasco, Safa has yet to issue a statement clarifying it or indicating the steps to be taken besides promising to appeal the Fifa sanction.
Tseki was seen celebrating and hugging Broos after the win as if he had won a lottery, which could be understandable after his incompetence nearly cost the country dearly.
But he should not be spared if he is responsible, unless Safa wants to again send a message about non-accountability in its ranks.
And if that is the case, we can expect more bungles which could plunge the soccer fraternity into more embarrassment.
It would be easy to hide behind the Bafana Bafana success, as they say, “wins shield flaws”.
And trust Safa president Danny Jordaan to use this success to garner support to fight his woes, which are the subject of court action.
Those who have been irresponsible must not be spared by the Bafana Bafana World Cup qualification.
Daily Dispatch