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If Mashaba fails, the nation fails

How often do we hear the adage, “prevention is better than cure”?

Once too often. But we don’t learn and always wait for the end result before we act. In a nutshell, preventing a problem from happening is easier than solving it.

Similarly, it’s much easier to get things right instead of constantly repairing the damage. We should use foresight to prevent any adverse situation that may arise in future.

But it’s clear that circumspection is something we don’t have, judging by what has been going on in our football. The issue is what is going on in the SA Football Association (Safa) technical committee.

This should be the nucleus of all technical matters in the association, but seemingly it does not have powers. In principle, the executive committee is the highest decision-making body, but I disagree.

Bafana will soon embark on their crucial 2018 World Cup qualifiers. And now that coach Shakes Mashaba has been given the mandate to take us to Russia, are there measures in place to avoid slip-ups?

What kind of intervention, if any, is there to ensure that we qualify for Russia? Or are we going to wait until the end of the qualifiers before acting? This can’t be right!

As much as it’s Mashaba’s responsibility to help the country to qualify for Russia, he can’t do it alone. This is the nation’s call and he will need support. If he fails, the country will fail as well.

There should be a think tank that will not only assess him after the games, but also advise him if it sees him go off the rails. He can’t shoulder the huge responsibility alone.

The think tank would give guidance and intervene, rather than wait until after matches to give its report. “Should haves”, “would haves” and “could haves” won’t help this time around.

If this had been the case during the ill-fated Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, we would not have been where we are now.

Had they intervened, and not interfered, in team selection when it was clear that Mashaba had issues with certain players, we would probably be on our way to Gabon.

We are still waiting to hear Kamohelo Mokotjo’s fate at Bafana. No one has said anything. The FC Twente midfielder is probably the best player at the moment, yet he is not considered for the team.

There should have been an intervention on the matter. We can’t afford to continue as if nothing has happened. We cannot leave everything to one man to take us to Russia, yet Safa’s technical committee is mum on this matter.

The only time we hear of this committee is when things don’t go well for Bafana. I know it has other duties, but it’s not visible enough for my liking. The national Under-17 team has failed to qualify for the CAF Championship and nothing has been said so far. This is where it should start.

Does Molefi Ntseki know what the future holds for him after failing to qualify? Remember, this is the person who took us to the World Cup in Chile last year.

Why didn’t he graduate with his team to the Under-20s, instead of starting from scratch with new players?

Where is the continuity in the bigger scheme of things? Logic dictates that Ntseki should have moved with the players he led in Chile to the next group age.

With less than a month to go before the CAF African Women’s Championship in Cameroon, Banyana Banyana are without a coach after Vera Pauw left. They take on Zimbabwe in their opening Women’s Cup of Nations game on October 19, and they are without a mentor.

What has the committee done? They can’t always leave decisions to the executive. Prevention is better than cure.

. timothy@citypress.co.za

Follow me on Twitter @TimspiritMolobi

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