I am sick and tired of banging on about Raymond Hack and his troupe of clowns at the South African Football Association (Safa), so I’m going to gloss over their latest circus act — that of calling up the suspended Bradley Carnell for the African Nations Cup qualifier against Chad.
Or the fact that Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira had to secure Ellis Park himself for the recent training match with Swaziland after Safa failed to arrange the original proposed venue, the BidVest Stadium, in time.
If the Brazilian was under any illusions before about the chaotic mismanagement of the organisation, he has discovered the hard way that with Safa, it is best to do things yourself rather than leave it to people who couldn’t organise the proverbial piss-up in a brewery.
No, my ire has found a new target this week: a man who, for years, has managed to dupe the South African public into believing he’s something he’s not — but now has finally shown his true colours.
Kaizer Chiefs ”legend” Doctor Khumalo may have been able to shibobo and tsamaya with the best of them, but flashy tricks do not a footballer make. However, it is not his ability on the pitch that has got my back up, but rather his appalling behaviour off it.
Khumalo was, presumably on reputation alone, handed the job of coaching the national Under-17 side, the Amajimbos, in December after Serame Letsoaka earned an extremely well-deserved promotion to the Under-20s.
He was tasked with taking this young group of impressionable players to the African Youth Championships currently on the go in Togo, an incredibly important event because it provides the continent’s four representatives for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup later in the year.
But having accepted the job and begun work, he sent Safa a letter demanding a week off during the Togo tournament to get married! The most important seven days in a four-year cycle for the team, and the coach basically abandons his post to run off to Mauritius on honeymoon.
What does this say to the kids? What does this say about his loyalty to South African football? What does this say about the man?
After Safa failed to persuade him to change his mind, Letsoaka was brought back at the last minute, but the squad’s preparations were thrown into turmoil and this past weekend they were knocked out in the first round. There will be no World Cup for these young men.
Apparently Khumalo is only on leave and will resume his post when he has finished partying in Mauritius, but if Safa allows this selfish, arrogant individual to manage our brightest young talent again, it will be a travesty. He has shown his hand and shown what is important to him, and obviously the kids don’t matter.
He built a playing career on fancy flicks and tricks, and as a coach he has proven there is no real substance to the man either.
On a much more serious note, I would like to offer my condolences to the family of Bob Woolmer following his sudden passing. I had the pleasure of speaking to Bob on a couple of occasions while on the cricket beat, and I always found him to be amiable and a true gentleman.
His passing is a huge loss to cricket, but more so a great tragedy for his wife, Gill, and sons. At least they can live in the knowledge that he gave so richly to the game and will be remembered as a true pioneer around the world, and the ”father” of South African one-day cricket, with many of his innovations providing the backbone of team plans today.
Nick Said is editor: special projects for Kick Off magazine