The South African Football Association (Safa) has confirmed the sacking of Molefi Ntseki as Bafana Bafana head coach following the team’s failure to qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
After a meeting between Safa’s hierarchy on Tuesday, matters worsened for Ntseki after he refused to resign from his position, leaving them no choice but to terminate his contract.
The organisation confirmed the news of Ntseki’s departure from his head coach role at a media conference at Safa House on Wednesday.
‘Safa have parted ways with Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki. Further updates will be provided,’ a Safa statement read.
The 51-year-old was in charge of the South African national team for nine games, but his ultimate downfall was his failure to secure their place in next year’s Afcon for a fourth time in the last seven tournaments.
Ntseki won four of those against Sao Tome e Principe (twice), Sudan and Mali, while playing out to draws with Ghana and Namibia, and conceding defeats to Ghana, Zambia and Sudan, respectively.
South Africa came narrowly close to securing their progress in the tournament but fell short at the final hurdle after they suffered a 2-0 defeat by Sudan this past Sunday while needing a win or draw to book their place in Cameroon.
Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe revealed that the national executive committee (NEC) voted in favour of dismissing Ntseki, whose mandate was to qualify for the Afcon finals.
‘We are here to convey the message of the NEC, who have mandated us to apologise to the nation on their behalf for the team’s failure to qualify for the upcoming Afcon,’ Motlanthe told the media.
‘Everyone worked around the clock to ensure we would qualify. Emotionally, it has affected the country. The expectation was we would qualify and do well in the finals.
‘[As such] the NEC has responded in favour of parting ways with the coach. The technical committee will give us direction on what will happen now [with a new coach] but we hope to reconvene next week to deliver the process going forward.’
