Jomo Sono urges Pitso Mosimane to build on Hugo Broos’ Bafana Bafana foundation

Former South Africa coach Jomo Sono has advised Pitso Mosimane to avoid making major changes to the national team as he prepares for the opening matches of his second spell in charge.

Mosimane has a limited period in which to prepare Bafana Bafana for their upcoming fixtures, with South Africa set to face Guinea and Eritrea in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers before playing Egypt in a friendly.

Sono, who is also known as the Black Prince, believes Mosimane should rely largely on the players who represented South Africa at the World Cup. He said Hugo Broos had already established a strong base for the new coach to work from.

“Pitso, there is a foundation. That guy [Broos], he build a foundation for Pitso,” he told Thabiso Mosia on Radio 2000.

“[But] he’s got a short space of time to prepare the time, he must prepare the team – the team that played at the World Cup, he’s got the players.

“He must not bring new players and say ‘we’re building this new Bafana Bafana. He’s playing now in three week’s time.

“The players who went to World Cup, he can add one or two, they know each other, they know the style of play.

“Because being a coach is to make sure that the players know each other, the players know and understand each other in the field. It’s what you build as a coach, the understanding amongst the players.”

Mosimane announced his preliminary squad for the international break on Friday. The selection includes 10 new faces: Yanela Mbuthuma, Cemran Dansin, Tshepo Mashiloane, Puso Dithejane, Shandre Campbell, Lebone Seema, Tashreeq Matthews, Ronaldo Van Neel, Lebohang Maboe and Luther Singh.

The coach has not yet confirmed his final squad for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea, or for the friendly against Egypt.

Sono has personal experience of taking charge of Bafana Bafana in difficult circumstances. He succeeded Clive Barker in 1998 after a fall-out between Barker and the South African Football Association, and led the national team to the Africa Cup of Nations finals.

His comments come as Mosimane begins his second stint as South Africa’s head coach. The former coach believes the new manager should focus first on maintaining the team’s understanding and established style rather than attempting to create an entirely new squad in a short period.

Mosimane’s preliminary selection shows that he has already introduced a significant number of fresh options, but his final decisions will determine how many of those players feature in the forthcoming qualifiers and Egypt friendly.