Mzani’s top coaches begin to conquer continent

The last weeks have seen three South African coaches – all with impressive domestic pedigree – get new jobs elsewhere on the continent in what could become an increasing trend.

Before Pitso Mosimane went to Al Ahly in Egypt six years ago, there had been no South African coaches hired by teams elsewhere in Africa, save for the neighbouring countries.

Mosimane, who won two African Champions League titles with the Cairo giants, effectively opened the door for compatriots to also work overseas and since him there has been a steady trickle heading north of Mzansi’s borders.

Among the latest are:

RULANI MOKWENA: Mosimane’s former assistant is on his fourth different job in North Africa in the space of two years after last Friday being appointed new coach of Cairo’s Pyramids. Mokwena takes over from Croatian Krunoslav Jurcic, who parted ways with the big-spending club at the end of last season following a highly successful two-and-a-half-year tenure during which he guided the team to five titles, including the Champions League.

Mokwena, 39, previously worked with Moroccan giants Wydad in the 2024/2025 season followed by short stints with Algeria's Mouloudia Alger (2025/2026) and Libya's Al-Ittihad. He steered Mouloudia Alger to the Algerian Super Cup during his brief spell this past season.

MANOQBA MNGQITHI: Another of Mosimane’s former assistants moves to Tanzanian champions Young Africans, where he will begin the new season on August 12 against compatriots Steve Barker’s Simba in the Community Shield. Yanga won the title in Tanzania last month but mercilessly fired coach Pedro Goncalves not long before the end of the campaign, where they ended two points ahead of Simba.

Mngqithi left Lamontville Golden Arrows at the end of last season after they finished in sixth position, their best finish in five years. Yanga will compete in the Champions League this season, where Mngqithi has experience from his time as co-coach of Sundowns with Mokwena.

ERIC TINKLER: Newly appointed Asante Kotoko coach Tinkler aims to build a team that will compete for titles domestically and on the continent and lift up the ailing Ghanaian giants. This is what he said after being named as coach for the new Ghana Premier League season.

Kumasi-based Kotoko are former African champions but last season only finished eighth in the league standings, and they have won the league only once (2022) in the last 12 years. They will begin their pre-season training camp in the next weeks, but there is no confirmation date yet for the new campaign in the West African country.

STEVE BARKER: Barker left Stellenbosch to join Simba in late January, beaten in his debut game in charge away in Tunisia against Esperance in the Champions League. But since that setback, he has proven undefeated in 27 matches and won the last 10 on the trot.

When he took over, Simba were well behind Yanga in the title, so had scant hope of catching their Dar-es-Salaam rivals, and by the end of the season, cut the deficit to two points. Realistically, they needed to beat Yanga in their derby in early May, but it ended in a 2-2 draw.

ROGER DE SA: The former Bafana goalkeeper and Wits and Pirates coach had a brief spell at the World Cup with Ghana, acting again as assistant to Carlos Queiroz.

That was a short-term contract that ended after Ghana were eliminated in the last-32 by Colombia but there have bene reports that the Ghana Football Association want Queiroz to return and if that is the case, then De Sa will go with. Ghana’s next objective is a place at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals having failed to qualify for the last tournament in Morocco.