Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie said that he is happy with the explanation and the investigation that Safa undertook to finalise the investigation report concerning the fielding of Teboho Mokoena against Lesotho in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
As Sunday World reported this past week, Bafana Bafana team manager Vincent Tseka claimed that he was not present at the stadium when Mokoena received his second yellow card because he had left the venue to go buy ice for the team.
Safa to decide on Tseka fate
And in a bizarre move, the South African Football Association (Safa) will have its National Executive Committee (NEC) vote on whether Tseka and head of delegation David Molwantwa should be fired or spared the bullet.
According to letters seen by Sunday World, Safa’s legal chairperson, Poobie Govindasamy, finalised an investigation report and recommended the matter be decided by a “round robin” vote by NEC members.
The gaffe cost Safa a substantial fine and three points. This almost resulted in South Africa not qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The fielding of Mokoena against Lesotho was an administrative error, as the player was suspended.
On Tuesday, McKenzie held a press briefing where he explained that he was happy with the national association’s explanation with regard to the matter. And he urged South Africans to forgive and move on, and to support the country’s national teams.
“South Africans deserved answers. And I gave Safa seven days to provide me with answers to make sure that this never happens again,” McKenzie told the media in Pretoria.
Report clears team manager
“Safa complied with my request, and they have completed their investigation. They provided me with a comprehensive report. And I can report today that we now have full clarity on what happened. The report confirms it was not an act of negligence or sabotage but rather a strange set of coincidences. The two yellow cards issued to Teboho Mokoena came 16 months apart.
“There were a lot of games, and team manager Tseka has taken responsibility for the oversight. Despite numerous circumstances, he was not present when the second yellow card was issued. He had left the field to fetch the ice. That extraordinary coincidence tell us something deeper, that our national team is operating under immense strain. With far too few hands doing far too much work. Despite incredible results on the pitch, Bafana are still under-resourced, and that’s the hard truth,” the minister added.
“I commend Safa for being transparent. And I agree that now is not the time to make scapegoats, including Mr Tseka, who works hard and loves this team. He deserves our support, and I’m confident that we will not see a repeat of this blunder. All we need to do is to unite behind our team.
Honest mistake
“Many thought we are interfering with FIFA. Asking questions does not mean interfering. We know what we are doing as a government and we asked Safa to investigate. Many people are saying I must get rid of Safa president Danny Jordaan. I do not have those responsibilities as a minister. All I have is to say is ‘I’m the minister, and the support I give you shall end if you do not qualify for Afcon, the World Cup, and Wafcon’. He shook my hand and said if he failed, he was going to resign.
“We have now gone 24 games unbeaten. Mistakes happen, and a mistake happened in this case. And there was consequential management. A final written warning has been given, and lessons have been learned. I am saying to the SA soccer public that we must move forward stronger. In that spirit I want to make one point clear,” he explained further.
