With two months before Bafana Bafana start their Fifa World Cup qualifiers, the SA Football Association (Safa) seems to have no clue who will succeed Molefi Ntseki as the new coach.

Ntseki was fired yesterday after Bafana failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon next year, losing to Sudan on Sunday.

Addressing the media yesterday, Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe said they would only meet after the Easter weekend to map the way forward with the national executive committee (NEC) who will recommend a new coach.

Names like Pitso Mosimane, Gavin Hunt and Benni McCarthy have been suggested to Safa to replace Ntseki, but whether the association will afford them remains to be seen.

“It was an NEC decision [to part ways with Ntseki]. So, what is going to happen from here is Mr Jack Maluleka [chair of the technical committee] and his committee will then give us a direction,” Motlanthe said yesterday.

“And we hope that we will meet early next week to give you the process which will unfold. As a head of admin, I still need to engage with the coach [Ntseki] and talk about this and other ways forward."

The qualifiers – where SA have been pitted against Ghana, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia – will kick off in June, and Safa needs a replacement with some senior experience and will have to move fast.

McCarthy looks to be the front runner to take over, but it may prove difficult for Safa, considering that he is doing well with AmaZulu currently.

Motlanthe, however, insists the issue of finances won’t be a stumbling block when they appoint a new coach, unlike when they hired Ntseki in 2019.

“I don't see us having the issue of finances when we appoint the coach. There will be criteria set and we will get a coach which is recommended by the technical committee,” Motlanthe said.

“As the association, we failed the nation. We don't apologise if we don’t take the blame. The national executive committee, when they sent me here, they took the blame and said: 'we need to apologise to the nation'. We know how it does emotionally to the nation.

“We need to sit down with Ntseki and his representative and pave a clear way forward, but there has not been any formal communication to the coach, that I can assure you.”