Thembinkosi Lorch selection for Bafana Bafana would undo Broos’ great work

Hugo Broos has worked painstakingly hard to restore the pride of Bafana Bafana, a team that was once the punchline of jokes at family braais. Since taking the job in 2021, supporters have gradually flocked back to the stadiums to watch the 1996 African champions.

“I heard somebody say everybody laughed at Bafana Bafana [in the past]. We were a joke and now we are on a high level. Everybody respects us… This is what this nation needed, a different way to look at football,” said Broos.

Now the question is why would the Belgian disrupt this harmonious team environment he has so carefully crafted since ascending to the Bafana Bafana hotseat?

He would be jeopardising his team’s upward trajectory by introducing a player currently serving a suspended sentence for assaulting his now ex-girlfriend.

Serving a sentence

In 2023 former Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns attacker Thembinkosi Lorch was convicted of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. In 2020 — while still on Pirates’ books — the winger assaulted his then girlfriend, Nokuphiwa Mathithibala.

He was subsequently sentenced to three years in jail, with the sanction suspended for five years. This on the condition that he not be found guilty of a similar offence within this period.

Since that incident, Lorch has kept a clean public profile. He left Pirates in 2024, briefly played for Sundowns and is now on the books of Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca.

During his last few days as a Premier Soccer League player, the former Footballer of the Season’s powers on the pitch seemed to be waning, but he has reinvented himself in Casablanca. The 32-year-old moved to Morocco at the beginning of 2025, initially on loan from Sundowns.

He contributed enough to the team’s success during his brief loan spell to convince the Wydad hierarchy to permanently acquire his services from Sundowns.

On song in Casablanca

Since making that permanent switch before the 2025/26 season, the Bloemfontein-born footballer has been in blistering form.

To date, in 10 matches played across competitions, Lorch has scored five goals and provided three assists. His contributions have propelled Wydad to the summit of the Botola Pro — the Moroccan top-flight league.

It is this scintillating form that has seen his name mentioned in the Bafana Bafana mix once more.

Lorch last featured for his country in June 2022, in a 2-1 defeat to Morocco during an Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying match. By that time, Broos was a year into the Bafana Bafana job.

Before South Africa’s recent friendly game against Zambia, which Bafana Bafana clinched 3-1, Broos was quizzed on why he continues to ignore Lorch — despite the attacker’s blistering run of form for his Moroccan club, and especially considering that the 2025 Afcon will be played in Morocco. The Belgian’s response was emphatic.

“You have to make choices… This is not the future. I’m very sorry… Even though he’s playing well in Morocco, I don’t see any reason to take him with the team,” Broos said.

While Broos’ response centred around Lorch’s age, it is also worth asking about the fallout his selection would cause in a country whose gender-based violence and femicide rates are a constant talking point.

A study by the Human Sciences Research Council, which was released in 2024, revealed that an estimated 33,1% of South African women aged 18 years and older had experienced physical violence at the hands of men.

As such, by selecting Lorch, what message would the Bafana Bafana technical team be sending to their female audience, as well as general soccer lovers who are against such heinous acts?

History has no blank pages

As much as Lorch has displayed the characteristics of someone who has changed his ways and is rehabilitated, his actions from five years ago will always follow him like a repulsive stench, especially as his victim told the court it was not the first time he had physically assaulted her. She said she had initially kept the other incidents shelved in order to protect his public image.

Lorch is not alone in this boat. Former Manchester United attacker Mason Greenwood has reinvented himself while playing for French club Marseille.

But in October 2022 Greenwood’s career took a nosedive after he was charged with attempted rape, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and controlling and coercive behaviour. This after images, videos and a voice note pointing to such actions from the player surfaced online.

The allegations were made by his partner Harriet Robson, but Greenwood vehemently denied them. English authorities later dropped the charges, citing “the withdrawal of key witnesses” and the emergence of new information that made the prospects of prosecution bleak.

Greenwood and Robson seemingly put this matter behind them, even welcoming their second child in early 2025. However, in soccer spheres the stench around Greenwood remains.

The forward has been in sensational form for his French club, playing a direct part in its 15 goals from 17 matches.

Nevertheless, England national team coach Thomas Tuchel has dismissed the prospects of the 24-year-old (who has a single cap for England) playing his way into the Lions’ squad before the 2026 Soccer World Cup.

“My understanding is that he is trying to play for Jamaica. So, we didn’t give it another thought. He is not in the mix at the moment and he is not in our thoughts for our team,” Tuchel stated.

If Greenwood, who was not even convicted of the allegations made against him, can be written off, it’s unlikely that Lorch — who was found guilty in a court of law — will be wedged into Bafana Bafana to represent South Africa. DM