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Minister angry at South Africa
"This was a serious blunder. The best thing is to accept the defeat and mediocrity on the part of the leadership and move on," Mbalula said. He said he expected more from administrators and now believed they should publicly ask for forgiveness. "I am very shocked that that apology has not come up and at the same time people are still appealing. The country has been seriously let down. SAFA must be ashamed."
Mbalula said the mistake was serious enough to merit resignations from the office. "People excuse themselves from positions in situations like this," he said. "They say, 'I will resign. I failed the country. I apologise. I will go on with my job elsewhere'. I wanted SAFA to say, 'There will be consequences. We are looking into this matter. We are investigating and then we will decide'."
With SAFA showing no signs of making anyone pay for the error, Mbalula went on to criticise their gameplan and said that under no circumstances should the national team aim for a stalemate. "You can't be proud to play for a draw in the national interest. National interest means you must die for the jersey," he said. "You can't say in public that you played for a draw because you were relying on another game. It's anti-national interest." Bafana Bafana believed that Egypt's 3-0 victory over Niger would be enough for them to qualify and have become notorious for their defensive style of play, even in games they would be expected to win.
The team did not escape the minister's wrath and he saved the most scathing of comments for them. "Bafana Bafana don't understand what it means to be South African. They didn't try," he said. "It is a point about our sports that people must understand. To don that jersey is national pride, not a gift from your mother or your father. It's not playing for Moroka Swallows - it's playing for the national team. It's not privatised. These people don't understand what it means to be in the national team."
