Dortley embodies Broos’s eye for beauty

In Rushwin Dortley, Bafana Bafana have finally found a left-footed centre-back who brings the required balance in the rearguard and embodies Hugo Broos’s eye for beauty.

At 22, and with only five caps, the Kaizer Chiefs defender is the youngest and least experienced of the back four — but the latest addition to the coach’s mission to broaden the selection pool has been a revelation worthy to be selected, and from a club Broos once acerbically declared had players not deserving to be in Bafana.

Dortley’s reading of the game, composure under pressure, crisp distribution, and ability to play from the back are attributes that have elevated him to being an immovable component of the Bafana defence, and a constant presence in all Group K 2025 Afcon qualifiers in partnership with Mothobi Mvala, Siyabonga Ngezana and Grant Kekana.

He delivered a faultless display on Friday in Bafana’s 2-0 defeat of Uganda to go top of the group K. More of the same will be expected from the former SA Under-23 captain in the final qualifier against South Sudan in Cape Town on Tuesday, to seal the spot for the Morocco Afcon edition in style.

Three wins [two achieved away] and two draws later, South Africa have attained a first successive qualification for the biennial competition since 2013 and 2015 — making Broos the first Bafana boss to attain the feat.

I pray to God that he’ll will be fine again after recovery. Really, I pray to God because Themba Zwane cannot be replaced by anyone

—  Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana coach

The team’s progress and how he continues to evolve it has been a marvel. Bafana play with attitude, authority and assurance. They now have a bark and a bite that matches the confidence of a coach who has crafted them into a unit imbued with camaraderie.

Broos was clever to use Mamelodi Sundowns as a cornerstone of his team’s foundation. The rewards of building on that base were reaped in the team’s march to a chest-swelling Afcon bronze medal finish in Ivory Coast.

With an eye on the future, younger players like Oswin Appollis and Jayden Adams, who both turned 23 in August and May, were part of that journey. In June, Broos handed Orlando Pirates teenage sensation Relebohile Mofokeng, then 19, a debut in a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe.

His trump card is consistency in selection. Cognisant that an overreliance on the Sundowns core is unsustainable in the long term, Broos rewarded outstanding performers like Thalente Mbatha, Sipho Chain and Patrick Maswanganyi, to mention but three from Pirates. They joined Bucs teammates Evidence Makgopa and Nkosinathi Sibisi, who are already entrenched in the team.

From Stellenbosch FC came Fawaaz Basadien and Devon Titus.

While Ronwen Williams remains the undisputed first-choice gloveman, Veli Mothwa has been deposed as Chaine strengthenes his hand as deputy. Sage Stephens’ brilliance between the sticks saw him benefit ahead of Ricardo Goss.

Previously, Bafana subjected the country to the agonising misery of calculating permutations to confirm whether they had done enough to secure a spot in competitions. In other instances, Bafana suffered the embarrassment of either misreading the rules or waiting for the outcome of other matches to determine if they had progressed.

Presently, the nation does not bother to read the rule book because Broos has inculcated in his boys the mentality of winning matches and leaving nothing to chance. The air of negativity around Bafana has been replaced by an aura of confidence, such that even an injury to their lynchpin Themba Zwane does not throw them into disarray.

Zwane is a point of reference that embodies Broos’s boldness to embrace his errors. After adopting an ageist stance against the silky Sundowns midfield maestro and snubbing him “because he is old”, Broos sang a different tune when “Mshishi” dished dollops of humble pie and proved himself as Bafana’s heartbeat with outstanding performances that forced the Belgian to admit the error of his omission.

“I’m not a coach who does special mention for some players, but what Themba Zwane did today was great. Maybe he was the missing link in our team, a guy who can keep the ball, a guy who can give passes and a guy who can score. We’re very happy with it. It took a long time, but you know my philosophy [of putting youngsters first].

“Again, everybody has to appreciate that I changed [my] mind. This is not easy for a coach when he was always saying ‘no, no, no’ for three-four months and suddenly [changes his mind], but it is OK, I’m not afraid to do that. Themba showed today that he deserves his position in the team,” said Broos in 2022 after Zwane’s brace inspired Bafana to a convincing 4-0 victory over Sierra Leone in an international friendly at FNB Stadium.

Zwane suffered an Achilles injury against Congo last month. “I said this already months ago, we have to look little by little to replace Themba because there will be one moment [when] it will be finished. He’s 35 already.

“That’s the last thing I wanted, to replace him, to have an injury like this, and I pray to God that he’ll be fine again after recovery. Really, I pray to God because Themba cannot be replaced by anyone.”

True as that is, Broos has identified the 26-year-old Maswanganyi, who replaced Zwane in that 1-1 draw, as a potential successor. “It was not so easy for him [Maswanganyi] to come in in the game against Congo because we suffered in that game. It’s not easy for a player who plays his first minutes to immediately have an important role. For him, it’s about adapting to the way we play and what I’m asking from him in that position.

“We will see in the next games, we will evaluate. But I still believe he has the potential to replace Themba. He hasn’t shown it so far in Bafana, but we’ll see. Let’s have a bit of patience, maybe in a few months we’ll have to say no or maybe yes. We’ll see.”

We saw a glimpse of Maswanganyi’s genius on Friday when he ran into space to meet a clever Iqraam Rayners cross, took it down with a neat first touch, swivelled and shot for goal. It was a bit of magic that may have slotted his name into the starting XI for Tuesday.

To assume the Zwane throne, “Tito” will have to show a similar level of consistency, drive and determination.