Royal Eagles manager James Dlamini has explained the club's decision to relieve Serbian coach Zlatko Krmpotic of his duties before he even took charge of a game.

"Yes, it's true we have parted ways with coach Krmpotic. The reason we let him go was that we realised he was only going to receive his work permit in January," Dlamini told Sowetan yesterday.

Krmpotic was brought in after Eagles had placed Roger Sikhakhane on sick leave last month. He died 10 days ago.

Dlamini has reiterated that it was an amicable decision to part ways with the Serb.

"We did not just take the decision alone. We discussed it with the coach himself. He understood the situation and agreed to go. We have five matches before the end of the year, so you see that January is far to wait for him."

The Eagles boss also confirmed they were only looking at local-born coaches. Sazi Ngubane will continue to lead the team in a caretaker capacity, working closely with goalkeeper coach Bafana Nhlapo.

Meanwhile, eighth-placed Ajax Cape Town are also on the lookout for a coach after Muhsin Ertugral stepped down in the wake of 2-1 loss to relegation-threatened Witbank Spurs on Sunday.

The well-travelled tactician won four of his 11 matches in his maiden season in the NFD, with four defeats and three draws.

"I believe it's time to part ways. [This] will be beneficial for the club and myself," Ertugral wrote on his official Twitter account on Sunday.

NFD results

Galaxy 1, AmaTuks 1; Ubuntu 1, Tshakhuma 0; Kings 1, Umoya 0; Maccabi 2, Uthongathi 0; Spurs 2, Ajax 1; Stellenbosch 3, Cosmos 2; Sporting 2, Richards Bay 2.