Motsepe says he will not stand in Mosimane's way if Safa approach him for his services

Mamelodi Sundowns president Patrice Motsepe has revealed that South African Football Association (Safa) officials are yet to make a formal approach to him to ask for permission to speak to in-demand coach Pitso Mosimane.

The irrepressible Mosimane — who was announced by the Confederation of African Football as the continent’s best coach last week after leading Sundowns to the Champions League — is believed to be on the top of Safa’s wish list for the Bafana Bafana coaching job vacated by Ephraim ‘‘Shakes” Mashaba‚ who was sacked last year.

• ‘‘I would have been willing to sell Keagan Dolly for R5 if the decision was entirely up to me” — Patrice MotsepeMamelodi Sundowns billionaire owner Patrice Motsepe says the dispute over a buyout clause in Keagan Dolly’s contract irritated him so much that he would have been willing to sell the player for just R5 if the decision was entirely up to him. 

While Safa have not approached Sundowns or even Mosimane himself‚ Motsepe said he would consider it his patriotic duty to allow the in-demand mentor to ascend to national team level if he wants the job.

‘‘I will say just like Pitso‚ nobody at Safa has spoken to me‚” Motsepe said on Monday afternoon.

‘‘So I realise that if I do not say anything‚ this thing (the furious speculation) will not go away and I will be forgiven (for making the revelation).

‘‘I can say nobody has approached me about Pitso. But having said that‚ they (Safa) do not need to approach.”

• Pitso Mosimane: I don't want Bafana Bafana jobMamelodi Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane is going nowhere near the vacant Bafana Bafana coaching job. 

Mosimane agreed to a four-year extension to his contract at Sundowns a few days ago but as Motsepe indicated‚ he would have no problem releasing his coach if the Bafana job appeals to him.

Safa will begin their search for a new coach in the coming weeks and CEO Dennis Mumble told Times Media Digital that they will not rush to make an appointment.

Safa have given themselves until March to complete the search.

This should also give them enough time to deal with Mashaba‚ who is challenging his dismissal and has instructed his legal representatives to take his case to the Commission for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration.

Mashaba — found guilty of several charges‚ including gross misconduct and insubordination — wants to be reinstated as he believes he was dismissed unfairly.

And should he not be reinstated‚ he wants to be paid out the remainder of a contract that was to run until next year’s Fifa World Cup in Russia.

Besides Mosimane‚ Milutin ’Micho’ Sredojevic ‚ former Iran coach Carlos Queiroz and former Orlando Pirates coaches Ruud Krol and Roger de Sa have also been linked to the job.

Motsepe said he has lost a lot of good people over the years and even if Safa have not formally approached him yet‚ he has made peace with the reality that he will be the last person to know when the wheels are finally in motion

‘‘Patrice Motsepe in that environment has got absolutely no choice (but to accept whatever happens).

‘‘I have lost people who are exceptional and who have gone to live in London and in America‚ and not because of the money because we pay them more.

‘‘They have left because they have relatives there or they want to go back home.

‘‘So I am used to losing people that are important to me and you learn over the years.”

‘‘Talking about Pitso as I said‚ nobody has spoken to me at Safa. What do I personally think? I don't know.

‘‘Let me say this‚ as a South African‚ I look at the upcoming African Nations Cup and all of us would have loved (to be there).”

Bafana failed to qualify for the continental showpiece due to get under way in Gabon on Saturday.

The national team’s absence left a bitter taste in the mouth‚ as Motsepe himself hinted.

— TMG Digital