Sports minister Zizi Kodwa to meet Safa officials in wake of Bafana shocker

Sports minister Zizi Kodwa is set to meet South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan on Thursday to discuss a variety of issues related to the state of football in the country. 

Their meeting comes on the heels of Bafana Bafana's deflating 2-2 draw against 150th-ranked Liberia in a crucial Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier at Orlando Stadium on Friday, which has placed their chances of reaching Ivory Coast 2023 in serious jeopardy. 

By the time Kodwa and Jordaan meet the country will know whether the South Africa Under-23 side have qualified for their age-group Nations Cup as they take on Congo-Brazzaville in the second leg on Monday. 

Congo earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw in Dobsonville on Thursday and David Notoane's SA U-23s have to win or draw with a scoreline higher than 1-1 to progress to the U-23 Nations Cup in Morocco in June and July.

Bafana take on Liberia in their Group K return match in Monrovia on Tuesday needing a win against a clearly highly-motivated team in front of a packed, hostile 22,000-seat Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium, which has a tricky artificial surface.

Kodwa and Jordaan will meet also knowing the result of that match and in the context of a potentially embarrassing and highly concerning double blow to Bafana and the U-23s. 

“I am meeting with stakeholders on Thursday and I will be raising a number of issues about development of sport because my focus is on school sport, [and] partnering with Safa will help a lot [with that],” Kodwa said while attending the South African Sport Awards in Sun City on Saturday night.

“We have to work with Safa and where there are challenges we must be frank about those challenges because ... football is one of the biggest [sports] in the country. 

“We can’t have it in the manner it is at the moment, we need strong national teams and there are gong to be a lot of conversations with Safa ... next week.” 

Kodwa also explained why he has already met with Premier Soccer League (PSL) chair Ivrin Khoza. 

“As you know this is the 'Iron Duke' and if you know the history of football in the country; you will know that the first thing you do is to go to Dr Irvin Khoza. After that you can go to other people but I was wiser after our conversation in terms of the future and the possibilities we have as a country [in football].” 

Kodwa said he had hit the ground running since being announced as Nathi Mthethwa's replacement as sports minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet reshuffle earlier this month. 

“I have been doing everything with the speed of a cheetah and a leopard, I hit the ground running as you can see. Already a lot of work has been done and we will announce that work in the next few weeks.

“There are certain things that we must change, but we can’t disrupt.”

Asked about Bafana, Kodwa did not want to criticise the underachieving men's football team but admitted they have not been performing well. 

“Bafana Bafana they have not been performing well and the game against Liberia I thought was in the bag but unfortunately we dropped the ball at a critical stage. 

“But I think they can pick it up because if you look at the play, the combinations and performance, it is excellent but the finishing is what has been lacking at Bafana. 

“I am not a sports commentator but I was worried about what I saw [in the game against Liberia] because the possibility of winning slipped through our hands. You can see there is a plan to build Bafana but we don’t have the killer punch.” 

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