Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos and his players have worked hard to qualify the team for the 2026 Fifa World Cup, despite admin bungles by Safa. (Photo: Zamani Makautsi / Gallo Images) /file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/label-analysis-2.jpg)
“Safa apologises to the nation for these unexpected travel delays and would like to thank the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) for their assistance, as well as the US Consulate in Johannesburg, who went beyond their call of duty over the weekend to ensure that the visas were issued for all our players to travel.”
This was part of the South African Football Association’s (Safa’s) statement after their visa bungle, which disrupted Bafana Bafana’s travel plans for their first Fifa World Cup appearance in 16 years. The South African senior men’s national team was scheduled to travel to Mexico on Sunday, 31 May.
/file/attachments/orphans/TL_2574067_760020.jpg "Hugo Broos has never been one to pull his punches. The SA Football Association will know exactly how he feels after they botched his team’s travel arrangements, forcing him to travel without his assistant Helman Mkhalele. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)")
The Mexicans are co-hosts of the latest instalment of the tournament, which will feature 48 teams for the first time. They stage this World Cup alongside the neighbouring US, and Canada. South Africa’s base for the group stages of the 2026 edition of the global soccer spectacle will be in Pachuca, Mexico.
However, the team could not travel as planned because Safa botched the visa application process. This left the team grounded. They managed to depart on Monday, 1 June. Nevertheless, not everyone could depart then, including assistant coach Helman Mkhalele and head of security Mdu Mbatha.
/file/attachments/orphans/TL_2577031_754826.jpg "At their eventual departure for the 2026 Fifa World Cup in Mexico, the US and Canada on 1 June, Bafana Bafana bumped into Banyana Banyana at OR Tambo International Airport. The women’s team is heading to Japan for friendly matches. (Photo: Zamani Makautsi/Gallo Images)")
SA’s global embarrassment
The duo has since been granted their visas, according to public broadcaster SABC Sport, and they will follow the rest of the team as soon as possible. Despite the situation now being resolved (thanks to assistance from Dirco and the US Embassy), the egg on Safa’s face is big and messy.
Even South Africa’s opponents in Group A will look at the team as a disorganised bunch, which will fuel their belief that they can beat Hugo Broos’ men.
Bafana Bafana are grouped alongside Mexico, South Korea and Czechia. They will play the opening game of the 2026 tournament against the Mexicans in a repetition of the first match of the 2010 edition, the only instalment of the World Cup to be hosted on African soil.
Despite the latest Safa administrative mishap, organisation president Danny Jordaan played down its impact on the players over the duration of the tournament. The South Africans are hoping to reach the knockout stages of the showpiece for the first time.
/file/attachments/orphans/TL_2577046_784135.jpg "SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan says the team will use the visa bungle as motivation to perform at the World Cup. (Photo: Zamani Makautsi / Gallo Images)")
“These are experienced players. You saw Mamelodi Sundowns going into the lions’ den in Morocco. They had the grit and the determination to see it through,” said Jordaan “So, it’s not the first time that they have these problems. But we believe that they will use that as extra motivation to do well.”
Safa’s mass of messes
This World Cup debacle is not the first time that Safa has had to apologise to the nation.
In September 2025, South Africa was sanctioned by soccer’s world governing body Fifa for illegally fielding Teboho Mokoena in a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho. He should have sat out the match because of the two yellow cards he had accumulated.
He received the first in November 2023 against Benin, and his second caution came in June 2024 versus Zimbabwe. Under Fifa rules, this triggers an automatic one-match suspension.
However, neither Safa nor anyone in the Bafana Bafana technical team picked this up, with leaders of the federation saying the responsibility lay with Bafana Bafana team manager Vincent Tseka.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pic-1-1.jpg "Bafana Bafana team manager Vincent Tseka. (Photo: Vincent Tseka / Facebook)")
As a consequence of the oversight, Broos’s troops were docked three points and relegated to second spot in their qualifying group because of the 3-0 retrospective forfeit to Lesotho. This all happened with two qualifying games remaining. The setback left the players to dig deep to reach their dream.
Even then, all Safa could offer was an apology, while no one was held accountable, despite the federation’s promise of consequences.
“The players and the technical team have worked extremely hard to reach this stage,” Safa said in September. “We apologise to the nation for this administrative oversight and will reflect on the steps to take at the conclusion of our qualifying campaign.”
In a News24 report after the latest Safa faux pas, association insiders once again pointed the finger at team manager Tseka, saying that he had dragged his feet in initiating the visa application process.
Safa’s systematic issues
Although Tseka may be the ultimate scapegoat when it comes to Bafana Bafana matters, Safa is not new at dropping the ball when it comes to national teams at major tournaments. Just recently, the U-17 boys played at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), a World Cup qualifier for the age group in Qatar later this year.
Team coach Vela Khumalo bemoaned the lack of adequate preparation in terms of matches ahead of this important assignment.
“If you did not prepare and all of a sudden you play a game abruptly, and you play a game against a strong Western African team, without really having a proper preparation, you will not see a good performance,” Khumalo was quoted as saying by Soccer Laduma.
Banyana Banyana players also downed tools as they butted heads with Safa over unpaid match bonuses for friendly games played ahead of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon).
/file/attachments/orphans/1587245235_838718.jpg "Banyana Banyana made history at the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup despite disrespect from the SA Football Association. (Photo: Lars Baron / Getty Images)")
There was another incident involving Banyana Banyana before the 2023 World Cup, when national executive committee member Monde Montshiwa said the team’s excursion to the World Cup was “a holiday”. Of course, the players proved him wrong and became the first South African senior national soccer side to qualify for the knockout round. Bafana Bafana have similar ambitions, despite their setbacks.
Ironically, Montshiwa has since been expelled from Safa, but not for those unsavoury comments on Banyana. Instead, his recent expulsion was for being on the side of those challenging incumbent president Jordaan before the 2026 Safa elective congress.
Maybe if Safa’s leadership had not more concerned with internal boardroom battles, such incidents would not be a topic. DM