The South African Football Association (SAFA) has announced the appointment of Vela Khumalo as the head coach for the Bafana Bafana COSAFA Cup team.

SAFA had been working quickly to find a suitable coach, as senior Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos will be leading the main national side in two friendly matches against Tanzania and Mozambique next month.

Furthermore, Broos is contractually excused from managing the COSAFA Cup and the CHAN tournament and its qualifiers, allowing them to rest and focus on the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Khumalo is already an integral part of the SAFA coaching structure, currently serving as the U/17 national team coach.

He successfully guided the U/17 side to qualify for the FIFA World Cup later this year by reaching the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations U/17 a few weeks ago.

SAFA had on Friday announced the squad that will participate in the COSAFA Cup, which is set to take place in Bloemfontein next month, from 4-15 June.

In a statement released on Friday, SAFA confirmed: “Khumalo, who is also the South African U17 men’s national team coach, will be assisted by Reneilwe Letsholonyane while Molefi Ntseki will serve as Technical Advisor to the COSAFA side during the regional tournament to be held from 4-15 June 2025.”

South Africa has been drawn in Group A for the tournament, a reflection of their superior FIFA and CAF rankings. They will face defending champions Mozambique, along with Zimbabwe and Mauritius in the group stage.

“We are looking forward to this tournament, and we’re playing at home, we’re playing in Bloemfontein, and we cannot compromise the team,” said Khumalo, who also led Kaizer Chiefs to the DStv Diski Challenge title this season. “This is another Bafana Bafana team, and I’m happy, I’m excited. We want to go through, and we want to win COSAFA.”

He added: “I remember the last time we won it with coach Morena Ramoreboli [in 2021] when we were co-coaches; now it’s me alone. I think this is the right time for us to express ourselves and show how we as South Africans are on the winning streak, and we are happy and in a good space.”