Broos has been in the job the longest of any coach since South Africa were readmitted to international football in 1992, having taken up the role in May 2021.
He wants his assistant Helman Mkhalele to take over from him, but should the national team be left to a coach who has virtually no experience in the main role? Mkhalele has only worked as an assistant with Bafana Bafana and with the country’s junior teams but has never worked as a head coach, not even at club level.
His would be a risky appointment, whatever Broos might say, and given South Africa has so many better options, these are the men to potentially take over.
Bradley Carnell
The former Bafana Bafana left-back first worked as an assistant at Free State Stars and Orlando Pirates before he got a chance to go to Major League Soccer, where he has made a name for himself with his work at new franchise St Louis City in 2023 and then this year at Philadelphia Union. Both times, his sides finished top of the regular season standings.
Gavin Hunt
No coach has taken charge of more games in South African professional football than the 61-year-old, now in his 28th successive season coaching in the topflight of the domestic game. He has made no secret of his ambition to one day handle the national team, having had a brief taste when Pitso Mosimane asked him to be an advisor for a qualifying game in Zambia in 2006.
Steve Komphela
A caretaker stint in charge of Bafana Bafana, plus having worked as an under-20 and under-23 coach, Komphela knows his way around the national team structures. He has also worked with many of the country’s top players in his time coaching Kaizer Chiefs and as an assistant at Mamelodi Sundowns. It must also be remembered that the 58-year-old is a former captain of the national team.
Benni McCarthy
The top marksman for the national team, scorer of South Africa’s first goal at the World Cup finals, and a Champions League winner with FC Porto, the 47-year-old has turned out to be a fine coach, cutting his teeth with Cape Town City and AmaZulu, working with Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, and now getting experience as a national team coach with Kenya’s Harambee Stars.
Rhulani Mokwena
Some find him too intense and obsessed, but there is no doubt Mokwena is a man of much ambition and is ensuring that he is leading the game at the top levels. He is now working at Mouloudia Alger and will take them into the group stage of the CAF Champions League after a spell with Wydad Casablanca. At Mamelodi Sundowns, Mokwena won four league titles.
Pitso Mosimane
With three CAF Champions League titles and a wealth of experience in the game not only on the continent but also in the Middle East, Mosimane would be a no-brainer for the job. Plus, he has unfinished business with the national team, as his previous stint as Bafana coach ended in ignominy in 2012 and hopefully served as a valuable lesson about being properly prepared.
