No coach South Africa has produced has done more on the continental stage than Pitso Mosimane. He lifted the CAF Champions League with Mamelodi Sundowns in 2016, then won it back to back with Al Ahly and led the Cairo giants to three straight finals of the competition.

That CV is why the South African Football Association pushed hard to bring him home. SAFA’s National Executive Committee approved his appointment on 8 August, and after a month of negotiations he was unveiled at SAFA House on Tuesday as the successor to Hugo Broos.

“I take this responsibility knowing that I still have something to give in football, especially in my country,” Mosimane said at the press conference, as reported by Eyewitness News.

“I know that this is bigger than Pitso Mosimane. I accept this role with great humility.”

Read also: Balogun walked out of Finch Farm after midnight, and Chelsea's window collapsed with him

SAFA chief executive Lydia Monyepao praised him at the same event.

“You are without exaggeration one of the most successful coaches South Africa has ever produced,” she told him.

SAFA doubled its offer after Mosimane rejected R5m

The contract runs for five years and pays Mosimane R10m per year, according to Briefly. SAFA’s opening offer of R5m was rejected by his camp; the federation doubled it and also agreed to absorb his preferred fitness coach, Kabelo Rangoaga, and performance analyst Musi Matlaba, onto its payroll.

Even the R10m figure trails what Broos was earning. The Belgian’s package, including bonuses, ran to about R16.8m a year. Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie publicly argued that Mosimane’s compensation should match his predecessor’s rather than force him “to justify his value.”

Read also: Monza's new F1 trophy is a wobbly stack of bowls, and fans want Lando Norris kept well away

Not his first Bafana job

This is Mosimane’s second spell in charge of the national team. He was appointed after the 2010 FIFA World Cup on a four-year contract but was dismissed in 2012, iDiski Times noted, after South Africa failed to qualify for that year’s Africa Cup of Nations on a head-to-head tiebreaker against Sierra Leone.

Outgoing coach Hugo Broos issued a short message in SAFA’s announcement after more than five years in the job.

“Congratulations to the new Bafana Bafana coach. I wish the coach and SAFA all the luck and success,” Broos said.

Bafana open qualifying against Guinea on 26 September

Mosimane has three weeks to settle in before Bafana open their AFCON 2027 qualifying account at home to Guinea on 26 September, followed four days later by an away fixture against Eritrea.

Read also: Crystal Palace shatter transfermarket record as they sign Osorio

South Africa are drawn in Group D with Guinea, Eritrea and Kenya. Kenya are already through as one of the three co-hosts, alongside Uganda and Tanzania, so only one of the three remaining teams will book a place at the tournament CAF is staging from 19 June to 17 July 2027.

Read also: “Destined for greatness” – the F1 star whose career ended at just 27