Doctor Khumalo takes SAFA technical role with national teams’ progress in focus

Doctor Khumalo says South Africa’s national teams have made significant progress and must now maintain their standards after he was appointed vice-chairperson of the South African Football Association (SAFA) Technical Committee.

The appointment was confirmed by SAFA president Danny Jordaan at the end of a three-day meeting held by the newly elected SAFA National Executive Committee (NEC) in Sandton last weekend.

Khumalo discussed his new position on Radio 2000’s Game On Sports with Thabiso Mosia this week, acknowledging the work already carried out within SAFA’s technical structures. He said the organisation’s development programmes, including those supporting Banyana Banyana, had produced strong results.

“I’ve been shadowing this national team and other national teams we have here in South Africa, especially the development side of it and Banyana Banyana. I must praise SAFA because if you look at our development structures, we have excelled above our limits. But now we need to make sure that we don’t lose the plot and that we don’t lose ourselves,” said Khumalo.

The 59-year-old’s appointment comes as the South African Masters and Legends Football Association (SAMLFA) faces internal division and has no representative on the SAFA NEC.

His inclusion on the technical committee offers the prospect of a greater role for former players in discussions at South Africa’s football governing body. It also gives Khumalo an opportunity to represent the concerns of legends, who have regularly complained that they are excluded from important decisions affecting the game’s present and future.

Khumalo has been part of major moments in the development of South African football over the past three decades. He scored the first goal for Bafana Bafana following the country’s readmission to international football in 1992, finding the net in a 1-0 victory over Cameroon in Durban.

He was also a member of the South Africa squad that won the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Despite that history, Khumalo has accepted the new responsibility with humility.

He has stressed that his appointment should not be viewed as a platform for personal influence. Instead, he believes the role should support a collective effort to assist South African football and benefit the country.

The new position also comes at a significant point for SAMLFA, which currently appears to be divided. With no voice within the SAFA NEC, the organisation’s relationship with the national football structure remains a concern for South African legends.

Khumalo’s presence on the technical committee could therefore provide a channel for those former players, while allowing the focus to remain on protecting the progress already made by the country’s national teams.