Afcon winner Helman Mkhalele takes up Bafana Bafana role

The South African Football Association (Safa) on Friday named former Bafana Bafana winger Helman Mkhalele as the local assistant to newly-appointed head coach Hugo Broos after a protracted appointment process.

“Safa and Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos have appointed former Bafana Bafana winger Helman Mkhalele as the local Assistant Coach,” a Safa statement said.

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Safa now seems to have finalised its new-look technical team after the sacking of Molefi Ntseki.

It has been a prolonged process, with 69-year-old Belgian Hugo Broos eventually named head coach and Macedonian, Chedomir Janevski, as his first assistant.

Mkhalele, a Bafana legend known fondly as “Midnight Express” by local soccer fans, has now been confirmed as the second assistant to complete the new technical team.

The appointment process has been plagued by drama and bizarre plot twists after former head coach Ntseki was named by Broos as his local assistant, a claim that was later denied by Safa .

The Belgian named his predecessor Ntseki – who Safa recently sacked – as his assistant during an interview on the Sport On with Thabiso Mosia show on SAfm.

Safa released a statement that contradicted its own head coach by dismissing earlier reports while insisting a local assistant coach was yet to be finalised.

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Mkhalele, who serves as the U-20 national team coach, is a local football legend who lifted the 1996 Afcon with Bafana Bafana who also made 66 appearances with the national team.

The new technical team’s objective will be to secure qualification to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Their first outing will be two friendly internationals against yet to be announced opponents, at the beginning of June.

Compiled by Baden Gillion