The sacking of Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba now appears to be imminent after he was officially charged by the South African Football Association on Tuesday following his suspension 10 days ago.
Mashaba was put on ice by his employers after publicly wagging his finger at Safa president Danny Jordaan, chief executive officer Dennis Mumble as well as several other top delegates at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on November 12, where the national team faced Senegal in a crunch 2018 World Cup qualifier.
Shortly after the final whistle of Bafana’s 2-1 victory over the Lions of Teranga, the coach was caught on camera - a video clip which has since gone viral on social media - in a tirade as SABC touchline reporter Kwena Moabelo and team media officer Mathlomola Morake tried to calm him down.
Here’s a snippet of Shakes Mashaba’s tyrade that looks to have contributed to his suspension, courtesy of SABC News. pic.twitter.com/81stKXllDV
— Joe Crann (@YesWeCrann) November 13, 2016
It was already too late by then, with Mashaba having allegedly disrespected his bosses by claiming they did not back him during a challenge past few months following his failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in January and were looking for a excuses to give him the boot. He insisted that beating Senegal had given him a “new lease of life”.
Mashaba was informed of his suspension at the OR Tambo Airport last Monday prior to Bafana’s trip to Mozambique for a friendly international.
The coach did not travel to Maputo for the match and yesterday faced a disciplinary hearing which is chaired by an independent panel as per the requirements of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
The charge sheet includes his outburst in the media, the rant in Polokwane and his screaming match with Mumble in the tunnel among other offences in his two year tenure so far.
Top Safa officials have said Mashaba’s replacement, as he looks likely to be fired, will be a coach with experience in the African continent as the organisation is determined to see Bafana qualify for the World Cup in Russia.
The national team has accumulated four points from their World Cup qualifiers to date after two matches, a 1-1 draw away to Burkina Faso last month and the win over Senegal nearly two weeks ago. Bafana’s next qualifier is against Cape Verde in August next year.
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Independent Media