The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemns the reported decision by the South African Football Association (SAFA) to offer Pitso Mosimane remuneration that is completely inconsistent with his experience, achievements, and standing as one of Africa’s most successful football coaches.
The reported offer represents a substantial undervaluation of Mosimane when compared with the remuneration previously associated with the Bafana Bafana coaching position. Reports further indicate that SAFA subsequently improved its offer, but that the revised proposal would still leave Mosimane earning substantially less than his predecessor.
This is unacceptable. Mosimane is not an inexperienced coach being given his first opportunity at international level. He has already coached Bafana Bafana and has since built one of the most decorated coaching careers in African football. He led Mamelodi Sundowns to their first CAF Champions League title in 2016, before moving to Al Ahly, where he won back-to-back CAF Champions League titles in 2020 and 2021.
He has therefore won the premier club competition in African football three times, making him one of the most successful coaches in the history of the competition. He has also won CAF Super Cups, domestic league titles, and other major honours in both South Africa and Egypt.
It is therefore difficult to understand how SAFA arrived at a valuation for Mosimane that is substantially lower than the remuneration reportedly paid to a foreign white coach who previously occupied the same position. The question that SAFA must answer is simple: Why is a South African coach with three CAF Champions League titles being offered substantially less than a white foreign coach?
This disparity raises serious concerns about the continued racialised valuation of Black expertise in South Africa. For decades, Black professionals have been expected to achieve more while being paid less, while white expertise is automatically assumed to carry greater value. The treatment of Mosimane risks reproducing exactly this mentality within South African football.
It cannot be that when a European coach occupies the Bafana Bafana job, SAFA finds the resources to recognise and remunerate that expertise at a premium, but when a Black South African coach with an extraordinary record is considered for the same position, his value suddenly drops dramatically. The EFF rejects the colonial mentality that African expertise must always be discounted while white expertise is given a premium.
The EFF calls on SAFA to immediately review its offer to Mosimane and ensure that his remuneration is commensurate with his experience, qualifications, and achievements. SAFA must also account publicly for the disparity between the remuneration offered to Mosimane and that paid to previous Bafana Bafana coaches.
South Africa cannot claim to value transformation while systematically undervaluing the very Black professionals who have achieved excellence at the highest levels.
The EFF was founded in 2013 by Julius Malema and other former members of the African National Congress (ANC).