JOHANNESBURG—As of July 26, Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba is officially South Africa’s new national team coach. Mashaba fills the void left by the exit of Gordon Igesund, whose contract was not renewed for reasons that have yet to be explicitly stated by the South African Football Association (SAFA).
Much of the media coverage in the build up to Mashaba’s appointment had suggested that Bafana Bafana, as the national team is known, were going to be under the guidance of a foreign-born coach. Among the names circulated were Carlos Queiroz of Portugal (an ex-Bafana coach), Stephen Keshi of Nigeria, and Frank Rijkaard and Dick Advocaat of the Netherlands.
SAFA President Danny Jordaan said “The appointment of Shakes Mashaba was a unanimous decision by the NEC (National Executive Committee).” (He did not indicate whether or not Mashaba was the first choice; but the general opinion seems to be that Shakes was chosen after Queiroz’s financial demands were deemed to be excessive.)
Mashaba is a strong candidate for the head coaching job. In the 1970s and 1980s he played for Orlando Pirates, Moroka Swallows, and Swaraj, and then became one of South Africa’s most accomplished homegrown coaches. In fact, this is not Mashaba’s first stint as Bafana head coach. He held the full-time position from 2002 to 2003 and prior to that he was briefly caretaker coach in 1992 and 2001. Mashaba is undefeated as Bafana head coach. (Mashaba also coached the Swaziland national team, Isihlangu, from 2008-2010, and Venda club Black Leopards from 2004-2008).
But where Mashaba has distinguished himself is coaching South Africa’s youth national teams. He has been in charge of the under-17 (amaJimbo), under-20 (amaJita), and under-23 (amaGlug-Glug) and enjoyed good success with these sides, including amaJita’s victory in the COSAFA Youth Cup in Lesotho last December.
Reactions to Mashaba’s appointment from South African football experts have been largely positive. Former Bafana coach Clive “Mad Dog” Barker enthusiastically endorsed Shakes’ return. “He’s good guy and it just shows that good guys do come first sometimes. I’m right behind him and I think he’s going to produce the goods,” Barker said. “It’s fantastic that he’s a local coach and he’s got an ability to work with young players,” he noted.
Simon Ngomane, technical head of the South African Football Coaches’ Association, also expressed his hope that Mashaba, a man well-versed in both the style and form of South African soccer, may hold the key to alleviating some of the continued strains on the domestic game. Ngomane voiced his support for the selection of a local coach, stating that South Africans “come from a culture of looking elsewhere for solutions when the answers are right here.”
Stuart Baxter, a Scot who coached Bafana before moving on to Kaizer Chiefs, similarly endorsed Mashaba based on his record of developing local young talent. But Baxter also pointed to one of the major hurdles that Mashaba will have to clear during his time as head coach, noting that he’ll need help from “the Premier Soccer League, from SAFA, and from the supporters.”
It remains to be seen, of course, if SAFA will afford Mashaba the time necessary to genuinely “shake” things up or if it will give in to its proclivity for deposing national coaches who fail to deliver immediate results.
That is not to say that SAFA’s decision should be viewed in an entirely pessimistic way. Actually, it inspires a very tentative hope that Mashaba’s appointment constitutes a move away from trying short-term solutions and quick fixes to the massive structural issues that hold back soccer in South Africa.
Thabo Dladla, founder of Izichwe FC in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, and former national youth coach who worked with Mashaba from 1997 to 2002, explains that although Shakes is a talented coach, he “is not a magician. He can only succeed in ten years from now provided correct things are done from yesterday.”
In Dladla’s opinion, “youth exists only in name in South Africa.” The only way forward for the national team, he told me, is to rebuild itself structurally and not just superficially based on victories that stroke SAFA officials’ egos. As Dladla continues to emphasize, what’s required is to invest precious time and resources into “youth programs at club level and community level where boys can receive quality training and coaching on a continuous basis.” But will SAFA’s renewed commitment to football development produce meaningful investments in people and programs for the reconstruction of South African football?
In the meantime, Shakes Mashaba has promised that he “won’t disappoint” as head coach of Bafana. With the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifiers coming up in a few weeks against Nigeria, Rwanda, and Sudan, there is little to do now but wait and see.