FORMER Banyana Banyana players Sheryl Botes, Maud Khumalo and Desiree Ellis will take over the reins as interim joint coaches for the senior national women’s team.
They take over from Vera Pauw, who had been at the helm since March 2014 after Joseph Mkhonza was sacked.
Although the SA Football Association (Safa) has refused to confirm the news, SunSport has it on good authority that the trio will be heading the team.
All three have experience in national team coaching, as Botes was Basetsana and Bantwana coach, while Khumalo mentored the Under-20s in their last Fifa Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
South Africa fell at the last hurdle during those qualifiers, losing to Nigeria, who will now represent the continent in Papua New Guinea next month.
Ellis was assistant to Pauw when the Dutch coach was in charge.
Safa spokesman Dominic Chimhavi said a statement would be released soon on who would take over the coaching.
Said Chimhavi: “I cannot confirm anything at the moment but once we complete our internal processes, we’ll let you know.
“As I said earlier, we will appoint interim coaches to prepare the team for the African Women Championships in Cameroon (19 November to 3 December) while we look for the best possible candidate to take over on a permanent basis. We want the best candidate for the job.”
Pauw vacated the position after a disappointing showing at the recent Rio Olympic Games in Brazil.
