IT’S no longer funny how preoccupied Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba is with himself.
He doesn’t care about the South African senior national football team – Bafana Bafana or its progress.
Fact that Mashaba and his legal representative, Claudio Bollo, have interdicted the SA Football Association (Safa) from appointing a new Bafana coach, means they couldn’t care less about SA’s football, but their own affairs.
This is the moment when they should be negotiating a financial settlement, if they still feel Bra Shakes was unfairly dismissed, rather than hold the entire national team to ransom.
I will give you stupid examples here, which fits perfectly well into the Shakes-Safa legal case:
• A teacher was expelled from school by a principal who took him through all legal channels. But remembering that he was a permanent employee of the Department of Education, then the teacher interdicts the school not to employ his replacement until his appeal case has been heard.
• This, despite the school pupil being very close to writing his year-end exams.
• This makes the teacher too selfish as he is looking after his own interests than those of the pupils who want to learn, write exams and graduate to the next grade.
Here’s another example:
• A Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Health here in Gauteng gets axed by the premier – this, after all legal processes were exhausted.
• This decision was also sanctioned by the minister of health after some mental patients died as a result of negligence.
• Then at the end of the day, the MEC refuses the minister to employ a replacement MEC – because her appeal case has not been heard by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
This means clinics, hospitals and other sub-divisions will have to stop functioning because the MEC refuses to let go.
Look, there are many stupid examples you can think to tie in with the Shakes-Safa debacle.
If Shakes and his legal team so strongly believe he was fired illegally, then why can’t he contest for the financial perks and let life go on at Safa House?
The reason I am saying all this is because we know how serious Bafana need resuscitation – and this can only be done by:
- A new coach who will come up with some new plans and strategies.
- Work together with the Technical Director, Neil Tovey.
- Report to the technical director and not the CEO, Dennis Mumble.
- Abide by the association’s rules – and not be a law unto himself.
- Not wag a finger at your association’s president, Danny Jordaan, like Shakes did.
- Create a working relationship with all stakeholders as well as the media, who are supposed to report to players and supporters.
- Be able to explain to the people, including player agents and players, about your selection criteria.
- Travel overseas and establish a working relationship with club coaches, including local ones, where your players play.
- Not allow your children to attend media briefings and ask questions and others attacking people on social media.
- But now, Safa finds themselves held to ransom by Shakes’ Labour Court interdict – where a decision will be made Tuesday on whether Safa can continue to employ a new coach or not.
- This is just damn irritating, considering Bafana are back in action next month, when we expect either Mashaba, Owen Da Gama, Thabo Senong and Molefi Ntseki to be in charge.
- Meanwhile, the Safa-Shakes CCMA case is scheduled for 7, 8 and 9 March.