'Unqualified' Mkhalele barred from Cosafa bench

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos’ wish to see his deputy Helman Mkhalele steering the ship at the Cosafa Cup will not materialise as the latter doesn't have the required coaching badges.

In what looks like a hurried move, yesterday Safa confirmed Morena Ramoreboli as Bafana's Cosafa coach with Raymond Mdaka acting as his assistant. This followed Sowetan's questions, sent to the association technical director Walter Steenbok through head of communications Mninawa Ntloko, about Mkhalele's coaching badges earlier on the day. While we didn't receive answers, Safa released a statement confirming Ramoreboli would take charge, but didn't state any reason for Mkhalele's absence.

Cosafa’s 2023 regulations stipulate that “in line with CAF requirements, all head coaches at the tournament must have CAF Pro, A or B coaching licence. Assistant coaches can have a Pro, A, B or C licence”.

Yesterday, Mkhalele confirmed that he only boasted a Safa level one badge, revealing Safa was working on converting it to a CAF badge. However, it’s not clear if it’s really possible to convert Safa badges to CAF.

“My licence hasn’t been converted to CAF but the association (Safa) is working towards addressing that issue. I currently have a Safa level one licence, so the plan is to convert it to CAF,” Mkhalele told Sowetan yesterday before Safa announced Ramoreboli.

Mkhalele’s situation has left Safa with egg on its face, especially after the association had made it clear the Premier Soccer League clubs must hire qualified coaches. In April, Steenbok said it was irresponsible of Golden Arrows to have two coaches in Vusumuzi Vilakazi and Mabhuti Khenyeza who have “nothing” in terms of qualifications. He also lambasted Swallows’ Musa Nyatama, but it turns out Bafana’s second-in-command is unqualified either. 

In July last year, then Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe confirmed to this publication that Broos’ contract stipulates that he skips the Cosafa Cup. “In terms of his contract, he’s not coaching during the Cosafa and CHAN [the African Nations Championship]. Even last year he [Broos] wasn’t the coach at the Cosafa Cup [when Morena Ramoreboli guided the side to the title],” Motlanthe said.

Meanwhile, Cosafa secretary-general Sue Destombes emphasised that the tournament’s rules say only coaches with CAF A and B licenses are allowed to be in the dugout at senior level.

“For the seniors, coaches must have CAF A or B. At junior level it reduces to C for Under-17s and B for the U-20s,” Destombes said.

This regional competition will run from 5-16 July in Durban. Ramoreboli will name his squad tomorrow but in another development that shows how Safa has reduced Cosafa to a farce, Steenbok has already stated they have scouted players from the ABC Motsepe League. They'll go into camp on Tuesday in Durban. Ramoreboli recently won the league title with Botswana side Jwaneng Galaxy.