Ex-Chiefs star Letsholonyane wants to be next Bafana coach

Former Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport United midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane has revealed his ambition coaching Bafana Bafana one day.

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Letsholonyane, who recently parted ways with AmaZulu as their reserve league coach, is currently the assistant coach of Amajita, the SA Under-20 team.

“My ambitions, obviously as a young coach now, is in the near future to be a Bafana Bafana coach – but the journey starts somewhere, and currently I’m the assistant coach for the U20 national team,” said Letsholonyane during an interview with SABC Sport.

Letsholonyane was full of praise for Bafana after they won bronze at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations last weekend.

“I think it was one of our best tournaments, considering that we haven’t been qualifying for tournaments, and when we are there, we haven’t been going through the knockout stages,” said the former Jomo Cosmos midfielder.

“When the tournament started, Bafana were not given a chance. Almost everyone thought they would not even qualify for the knockouts.”

“Playing in the semi-final was a huge thing. For me, it’s a foundation that has been laid so that we get back to where we should be, in terms of conquering Africa.

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“No one thought they would be where they are – third-best country on the continent. Now there’s [World Cup] qualifiers coming up in the next few weeks and months, and it’s a booster for them. Going forward, it will be a continuation from where we left off,” he added.

Letsholonyane has 50 caps for Bafana and represented South Africa at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as well as the 2013 and 2015 AFCON editions.