Khenyeza Responds Strongly to SAFA

Lamontville Golden Arrows coach Mabhuti Khenyeza has blamed the South African Football Association (SAFA) for not providing CAF A and B Licences courses.

This was a sort of clap back to SAFA technical director Walter Steenbok, who this year proposed that CAF A licence should be mandatory for coaches in the DStv Premiership and the Motsepe Foundation Championship.

However, this was rejected by SAFA’s professional wing – the PSL, who they had the mother of football was going to propose in its Indaba, decided they will be part of it, blaming SAFA for not availing coaching licences in the country since 2017.

Steenbok publicly confirmed that coach Khenyeza doesn’t have a coaching licence and this hampers our football since he is coaching in the top flight, mentioning Vusi Vilakazi who was his co-coach before he later resigned to take over at Chippa United as the technical director last month.

Khenyeza is now running solo at Arrows, who he has taken to the quarter-finals of the Carling Knockout Cup and also the Durban club enjoying the best of starts this season, lying second on the DStv Premiership table.

“I think it is important to have licences but bear in mind again – if you talk about licences, when was the last SAFA conducted licences? They last did it in 2015 (2017),” said Khenyeza when asked if the licence matters if he keeps on getting the results.

“We can cry all we want, but where are they? Where do you get them? It’s not the same as a driver’s licence.

“But when was the last time they had coaching licences? Six years (eight years). If these licences were available, many coaches would have had them. SAFA has a problem and they need to solve their [own] issues.

“You can’t blame coaches if they don’t have licences and where are they going to get them? Other coaches are going abroad to empower themselves, but here in South Africa where? We don’t know. It is only C and D licences and coaches are repeating the same licences.”

However, the good news is that SAFA recently confirmed that a CAF A licence will be conducted, starting next month until June next year and the course is R35000 for South Africans and R40000 for internationals.  

Arrows, who beat Cape Town City in the Knockout round of the 16, joined TS Galaxy, Orlando Pirates, Stellenbosch, AmaZulu and Sekhukhune United.

The two winners on Sunday between Richards Bay vs Moroka Swallows and SuperSport United vs Polokwane City will join these teams in the quarter-finals, with the draw set to take place immediately after these matches.