Mosimane explains Bafana’s part-time coaching structure

After conducting his first training session at the UJ Stadium on Monday afternoon, Bafana Bafana head coach Pitso Mosimane laid out his vision for the national team’s backroom staff ahead of their opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Guinea at Orlando Stadium.

Addressing the media following the assembly of his squad camp, Mosimane explained the logic behind finalising his technical team with part-time specialists — most notably newly appointed goalkeeper coach Marcus Mashilo.

While Mashilo may not boast the flashy profile of former players, Mosimane insisted that his track record at Mamelodi Sundowns, Golden Arrows, and Marumo Gallants speaks for itself. “Marcus is helping us with the goalkeeping department,” Mosimane noted during the briefing.

“Coach Mashilo worked with me at Sundowns, he worked with coach Manqoba (Mngqithi) at Sundowns, he worked with coach Rulani (Mokwena). He even went to work with coach Manqoba at Golden Arrows and has been at Marumo Gallants. He was assistant to coach Wendell (Robinson). He’s got experience. Marcus has been around, although we know he does not have that big name.”

“He’s trained Kennedy (Mweene), he’s trained Denis (Onyango), he trained a lot of quality players and has brought a lot of trophies at Mamelodi Sundowns.”

Another technical member expected to join Bafana on a part-time basis is AmaZulu coach Arthur Zwane.

Mosimane’s locally grounded technical setup

Mosimane highlighted that constructing an all-local bench was an intentional philosophy aimed at elevating South African coaching credentials on the international stage. Joining long-time performance analyst Musi Matlaba and fitness coach Kabelo Rangoaga is Tshepo Leuta Mahao, who steps in to bolster the technical data department.

“We’ve got an assistant for Musi, Tshepo. He’s been in Algeria, he’s going to help Mmusi with all the analysis and data. With the technical team, local also, for me it is very important to support our local coaches, give them international experience within Bafana. It is good to have a local bench.”

“Some we can’t have them on a full-time basis; they come during camps. We can’t have them full-time, so we started with Musi and Kabelo. We’ve done well.”

Bafana overseas contingent not yet complete

Turning his attention to squad readiness, the former Al Ahly and Sundowns boss confirmed that local players reported to camp on Sunday without incident, while the overseas-based contingent is filtering in gradually following their weekend club commitments.

“Of course there are overseas players,” Mosimane said. “Some were playing yesterday (Sunday), boys like Puso (Dithejane) — we know where he is travelling from. A bit too far, he’ll take about two or three flights.

“We’re expecting all our overseas players to be here. Already Luther (Singh) is here, (Samukele) Kabini is here.”

Bafana Bafana kick off their AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign against Guinea on Saturday afternoon at 3pm at Orlando Stadium, before departing for Cairo to face Eritrea.