Hugo Broos must let go as Pitso Mosimane prepares to lead Bafana Bafana

Hugo Broos should accept that his time as Bafana Bafana head coach is over after criticising incoming manager Pitso Mosimane before he has even signed a contract, writes the author.

At Broos’s final news conference in charge last month, he was asked what advice he would offer his successor. The Belgian chose not to give an answer, replying: “I’m not going to comment on that.”

That response appeared to suggest Broos understood the importance of stepping aside and allowing the next manager to establish his own authority. It also implied that he had no desire to interfere with the new regime. Few people, after all, remember whether Broos received any guidance from Molefi Ntseki, the coach he replaced in 2021.

However, Broos has since changed his position.

In an interview with Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad this week, he reportedly said that Mosimane would take South Africa “five years back”. He also suggested that the new coach’s squad selections could be “influenced by agents”.

Those are significant allegations to make about a manager who has not yet formally signed his contract or presented his plans for Bafana Bafana.

Broos based his concerns on his own five-year experience in the South Africa job. During the interview, he said he had received calls from player representatives who tried to influence his selection decisions.

“If one [agent] called, I would say bluntly, ‘I don’t talk with agents!’” he told Nieuwsblad.

Yet this is the first time Broos has publicly claimed that agents approached him in this way. His squad selections were frequently debated during his tenure, which included overseeing Bafana Bafana at two Africa Cup of Nations finals and one World Cup. But there had never previously been an opportunity to ask him directly whether outside pressure had played a role in some of the choices that drew criticism.

By raising the issue now, before Mosimane has named his first squad, Broos has placed a question mark over his successor. Some of the Belgian’s strongest supporters may accept his assessment without question and repeat the claim that “Pitso is taking us five years back”, despite the fact that Mosimane has not yet brought his players together for a single training camp.

Broos made the comments while speaking in Belgium, away from the immediate scrutiny he would face in South Africa. That makes it harder for him to be challenged on the detail behind his claims.

The reaction also reflects the high status Broos has acquired in South Africa. He was widely praised for his directness during his time with Bafana Bafana, although that blunt style was at times accompanied by a tone of condescension.

His achievements should be assessed in proportion. The bronze medal at the Africa Cup of Nations two years ago was a notable result, but it was accompanied by a World Cup qualifying campaign made significantly easier by an expanded qualification format. Ten African teams qualified, compared with five places previously available to 54 nations on the continent. That record alone does not justify awarding Broos the Order of Ikhamanga.

Broos also told the Belgian newspaper that he had felt sorry for members of his staff who would lose their jobs after his departure. He named his driver, assistant coach Helman Mkhalele and other backroom personnel among those he worried about, and said that concern contributed to his uncertainty over whether to remain in the post.

For a manager whose career has lasted four decades, that explanation is difficult to understand. It raises an obvious question: what happened to the driver and backroom staff who supported him when he left the Cameroon job in 2017? Did he take them with him to his home in Brussels?

Bafana Bafana existed before Broos and will continue after him. The most constructive course now would be for the Belgian to allow Mosimane to begin his tenure without prediction or interference. If Broos is asked about South Africa or his successor again, “no comment” would be the most appropriate answer.