Although they came from an innocent place, Hugo Broos’ comments on Mbekezeli Mbokazi were over the top and may disrupt Bafana Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations preparations. Bafana Bafana are in the final stages of their preparations for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco. The South Africans have been backed by many as one of the teams that can push all the way and win just their second African title.
However, this momentum has been hampered by the fallout from harsh comments made by Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos at a press conference in Pretoria last week. The Belgian tactician, visibly livid, lambasted star defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi. This was on the back of the 20-year-old missing his flight from Durban to Johannesburg after captaining Orlando Pirates to victory in the Carling Knockout Cup final, in which they defeated Marumo Gallants 1-0.
The final took place in Polokwane, but Broos granted the Pirates players selected for Afcon a couple of extra days off after the Knockout Cup decider. Bafana Bafana set up camp at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria on Monday, 8 December 2025. Mbokazi used his extra time off to head home to celebrate his recent move to Major Soccer League side Chicago Fire.
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Broos also expressed his disappointment with that move, insisting that Mbokazi could have received better offers after Afcon or the 2026 Fifa World Cup. “I will have a chat with him. He is a black guy.
He will get out of my room as a white guy. Because that I can’t accept. But I know why.
Suddenly, Mbokazi is a star – he thinks he is a star. This is the attitude of a star: ‘I will decide when I come.’ I will explain it to him. I’m very angry about his attitude,” Broos blasted.
“What is he going to do in Chicago? It’s not even a top team in America. But I know what happened.
That little woman who’s his agent [Basia Michaels] and thinks she knows football is doing what many agents are doing,” the Belgian said. “It’s how much they can get. If she’s a little bit clever, she should know that the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup are coming.
There could have been better teams that he can go to, and not Chicago.” These fiery remarks by the 73-year-old coach, who wears his heart on his sleeve and has told South Africans a number of harsh truths during his four years in charge of Bafana Bafana, have shifted focus from South Africa as a team heading to Morocco as a title challenger. The spotlight is now on how racist and sexist Broos allegedly was during his salvo. The coach and the South African Football Association (Safa) have since released a statement that denied the assertions of racism and sexism that have emerged from some media outlets and at least one political party.
The coach’s shaky command of the English language is always evident when journalists have to carefully explain some of their questions at press briefings. The statement said that he just meant that Mbokazi would be pale from fear when he was done with him.
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