Pitso Mosimane confirms talks with Safa over Bafana succession as he urges ‘higher bar’ for South Africa

Pitso Mosimane has confirmed he has held discussions with the South African Football Association (Safa) about their succession plans for the Bafana Bafana head coach role, while insisting the national team must now target greater heights on the international stage.

The former Bafana coach revealed he is among a group of managers sounded out by Safa as uncertainty lingers over the future of current head coach Hugo Broos, whose contract runs out at the end of the month.

Broos has suggested in an interview in Belgium that his spell in charge is effectively over, despite leading South Africa to consecutive Africa Cup of Nations appearances and what has been described as a historic Round-of-32 finish at the Fifa World Cup.

Safa has moved quickly to challenge the perception that the Belgian has already departed, stressing that he remains in his post as national team coach. Reports this week that Broos could be handed a one-year extension while Safa searches for a long-term successor have also been denied by the association, leaving the situation unresolved.

Mosimane: Safa sounding out candidates

Speaking in Johannesburg on Thursday at the launch of his Youth Football Coaching Manual, Mosimane said Safa had reached out to a number of coaches as part of its planning for life after Broos.

“I don’t know when the contract [of Broos] ends. Is it available or not?” Mosimane said.

“But I know that the federation has spoken to a lot of us about somebody to come in [with a] succession plan – What you want? What are you going to do? What’s your plan? How do we take Bafana to a better level?”

Mosimane did not disclose the details of Safa’s approach, but made it clear the talks were framed around the long-term direction of the national team rather than an immediate change in the dugout.

The veteran coach acknowledged that progress has been made under Broos, but warned against South African football becoming complacent on the back of recent achievements.

“I always say that it’s important to leave the jersey in a better place. Yeah, there’s room for improvement,” he said.

‘Every level can be improved’

Drawing on his own career, Mosimane argued that each success should be used as a springboard to the next, rather than a final destination.

“I left Sundowns with the Champions League, did they have the second one? So every stage and every level can be reached, can be improved.”

Mosimane is a four-time CAF Champions League-winning coach and one of South Africa’s most decorated managers. He used that experience to caution against portraying some of Bafana’s current milestones as a new dawn without historical context.

“It’s not the first time we qualify for the World Cup, right? Carlos Parreira did it. It’s not the first time we won the AFCON. Clive Barker won it,” he explained.

“So we can maybe talk about going into the next round of knockouts. Yes, that we can celebrate. But being in semi-finals, quarter-finals, have we done that? Let’s be honest. So that bar, it is high, but has been achieved before.”

‘We can raise the bar’

Mosimane said the team’s recent World Cup campaign and competitive showings against some of Africa’s leading nations should now serve as the basis for even more ambitious targets.

“Come on, we can do a little bit better,” he said.

“We’re beating Nigeria. We’re beating Ghana. So let’s just also be realistic… We can be there. We’ve been in the semi-finals of AFCON, right? So anything is possible. We can raise the bar.”

For now, Safa maintains that Broos remains Bafana head coach, even as conversations continue behind the scenes about his eventual successor and the trajectory of the national side. Mosimane’s comments underline both the uncertainty over the role and the pressure on South African football to turn recent encouragement into sustained progress on the continental and global stage.