Bafana Bafana have had a whopping 24 coaches down the years in either a permanent or caretaker role, with the steady turnover one of the major reasons for the teams’ latter day failures.
Some left an indelible mark on the side, while others are best forgotten. We look at the five coaches who have led Bafana the most times since 1992.
TROTT MOLOTO
P34 W17 D9 L8 GF43 GA31 WIN 50 per cent
Moloto was handed the reins after the 1998 Fifa World Cup in France and the disastrous spell for Frenchman Philippe Troussier, who never connected with the players.
The hiring of a local coach was therefore probably quite deliberate and Moloto had earned his spurs. He qualified the team for the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations, where South Africa picked up the bronze medal after losing to Nigeria (0-2) in the semifinals.
He was axed later in the year after losses to USA (0-4), Mexico (2-4) and Ireland (1-2) at a Nike tournament in June 2000, gone a few months later and replaced by Carlos Queiroz as the preliminaries for the 2002 World Cup kicked into gear. He later returned for a single game in charge as a caretaker in April 2002 in a friendly against Ecuador (0-0).
CARLOS ALBERTO PARREIRA
P36 W16 D13 L7 GF49 GA25 WIN 44 per cent
Parreira was brought in at great expense by the South African Football Asociation, backed by Fifa, to prepare the team form the 2010 World Cup and hope to avoid becoming the first host to exit in the group stages.
They would fail in that endeavour. Parreira had two spells in charge, with Joel Santana in between. Parreira took over from caretaker Pitso Mosimane in early 2007 and stayed a year before returning to Brazil to be with his wife, who was ill.
He returned in October 2009 for the build-up to the finals. He had the side playing some decent stuff and there were notable victories along the way, not least against France at the World Cup, but he ultimately failed in his mission.
CLIVE BARKER
P43 W22 D9 L12 GF57 GA38 WIN 51 per cent
Barker spent just shy of four years in charge of the side and led the team to the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations title and qualified them for the 1998 World Cup, though he was denied the chance to lead them at the global showpiece event.
He changed the fortunes of the side after a difficult return to international football, not necessarily through tactical genius, but with the ability to build a cohesive unit and a team of players desperate to do well for the badge.
That has not always been the case since. He has a win ratio just above 50 per cent but played a lot of top international teams and has not had his recorded padded by the likes of Lesotho, Botswana and Eswatini. He coached his last game in December 1997 before being sacked as it was felt they needed a more experienced coach for the big stage of the World Cup, and hence eventually chose Troussier. For many, Barker is South Africa’s best ever coach.
STUART BAXTER
P52 W23 D13 L16 GF78 GA58 WIN 44 per cent
Baxter had two spells in charge of the side, from May 2004 to November 2005, and May 2017 to after the Africa Cup of Nations in July 2019. Included in there were two World Cup qualification campaigns, though he re-joined midway through the one for the 2018 tournament in Russia.
He qualified the team for the 2006 Cup of Nations but left before the finals, prompting a brief, disastrous spell for Ted Dumitru. He took the team to the 2019 continental event as well, where they reached the quarterfinals, knocking hosts Egypt out along the way. He decided to call it quits then a second time, cutting something of a frustrated figure in the final months of his tenure.
EPHRAIM ‘SHAKES’ MASHABA
P58 W32 D21 L5 GF94 GA40 WIN 55 per cent
Mashaba had two permanent stints in charge and two more caretaker roles, but his combustible nature got him into trouble with SAFA eventually and both his longer spells were cut short after outbursts. He was well liked by players as a father figure, but was criticised for being tactically stuck in the past.
It was quite ‘old school’. His win per centage is good and to only lose five games out of 58 is very impressive, though the quality of the teams he faced was often very low. In fact, he did not play a single team from Europe in any of those 58 games, while he only met sides from outside of Africa on three occasions – Costa Rica twice and Honduras.
It is therefore hard to compare his record to others who played some of the world’s top teams fairly regularly. He qualified South Africa for the 2004 Cup of Nations finals but was then axed after refusing to pick overseas-based players, and led the team to the 2015 tournament as well where they bombed out in the first round. In the end, he achieved little of substance with the side.