Safa sack Molefi Ntseki after failed Afcon qualifying campaign

Molefi Ntseki, coach of South Africa during the 2021 Afcon Qualifier match between South Africa and Ghana at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, on 25 March 2021 ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

by Bertin Basson

Wednesday Mar 31, 2021. 16:00

The South Africa Football Association (Safa) on Wednesday announced that Molefi Ntseki had been fired as head coach of Bafana Bafana.

This comes a few days after South Africa’s failed Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying campaign. Bafana Bafana lost 2-0 to Sudan in Omdurman on Sunday as the hosts punched their 2021 Afcon ticket at their visitors’ expense.

A draw would’ve been enough for South Africa to qualify for next year’s 24-team tournament in Cameroon, but Bafana Bafana were put to the sword and will miss out on Africa’s showpiece after finishing third in Group C, behind both Ghana and Sudan.

“The decision was taken at about 10am. This was an NEC decision, it was taken in a round-robin,” said CEO Teboho Motlanthe at a press conference at Safa House in Nasrec on Wednesday.

Ntseki took over the reins from Stuart Baxter in August 2019. Baxter resigned shortly after leading South Africa to the quarter-final stage of the Afcon tournament hosted in Egypt that year.

Safa will have little time to appoint Ntseki’s successor with the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign just around the corner.

Bafana Bafana have been drawn in Group G alongside Ghana, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.