Pitso Mosimane Returns as Bafana Bafana Coach

Pitso Mosimane is back. Twelve years after his first spell ended in frustration and controversy, the 62-year-old has been reappointed as head coach of South Africa’s men’s national team.

He returns to the Bafana Bafana hot seat he previously occupied from July 2010 to June 2012, stepping in for Hugo Broos, whose five-year tenure came to a close when his contract expired at the end of July.

A new era after Broos’ revival

Broos leaves behind a side that has rediscovered its edge on the continent and on the world stage. Under the Belgian, South Africa finished third at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and reached the last 32 at this year’s World Cup, their first appearance at the finals since they hosted the tournament in 2010.

That upturn raised expectations. It also raised the stakes for whoever followed him. The South African Football Association’s executive committee made its move on 8 August, approving Mosimane’s return. Only after his contract details and technical team were finalised did SAFA present him to the media in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

The length of his deal remains under wraps, a rare secret in a landscape where every clause usually leaks within hours. What is clear is that Mosimane walks into a job very different from the one he left.

Old scars, unfinished business

His first reign still carries scars. South Africa failed to qualify for the 2012 Afcon after infamously misreading the qualification rules and playing for a draw in their final group match against Sierra Leone, believing it would be enough to secure a place at the finals. It wasn’t.

That episode came to define his early international tenure. The end arrived in June 2012, after a 1-1 home draw with Ethiopia in their opening qualifier for the 2014 World Cup. By then, the pressure had become relentless, the patience gone.

Now he returns with a very different profile and a far heavier trophy cabinet.

A continental heavyweight comes home

Since leaving Bafana Bafana, Mosimane has built one of the most impressive coaching résumés in African club football. With Mamelodi Sundowns and Egyptian giants Al Ahly, he conquered the African Champions League three times, turning himself into a benchmark for tactical detail, man-management and relentless standards.

His journey then stretched across the Middle East, with spells in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Iran, exposing him to different football cultures, dressing rooms and demands. That experience hardens a coach. It also sharpens conviction.

Now all of that comes back into the service of South African football.

The question is simple, and brutal: can Mosimane turn club dominance and continental pedigree into sustained success for a national team that has too often stumbled just when the path seemed clear?