South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Gayton McKenzie, has ordered a full-scale investigation into the administrative blunder at the South African Football Association (SAFA) that led to Bafana Bafana being docked three crucial points in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign
Bafana’s qualification hopes suffered a major setback after FIFA ruled that the team had fielded an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, during their 2–0 victory over Lesotho in March. Mokoena was supposed to serve a suspension for accumulating two yellow cards in previous Group C matches.
As a result, FIFA overturned the Polokwane result, awarding Lesotho a 3–0 win. The sanction dropped South Africa from 17 points to 14, and from first to second place in Group C — behind Benin, who now lead with a superior goal difference (+4 to South Africa’s +3).
In a strongly worded statement, McKenzie vowed that his ministry would “get to the bottom” of the fiasco and ensure that those responsible are held to account.
“We are committed to uncovering the root causes of this failure and ensuring accountability,” McKenzie said.
“A comprehensive report will be compiled and shared with the public to provide clarity and prevent future occurrences”.
The minister also rallied support for Bafana Bafana ahead of their final two qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Rwanda in Durban and Mbombela next month — fixtures that have now become must-win encounters if South Africa are to keep their World Cup dream alive.
“Let us get behind our boys in these critical games. Together we can and must carry them on our shoulders to the U.S., Canada and Mexico in 2026,” he urged.
SAFA, meanwhile, has confirmed that it will appeal the FIFA ruling but has yet to comment on the internal lapses that led to the costly administrative error.
