Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has publicly apologised to Mbekezeli Mbokazi for his comments in the previous press conference when he was upset about the player arriving late in camp.
Broos had publicly criticised the young centre-back for missing his flight and arriving late in the Bafana camp after being given two extra days off along with other Orlando Pirates players.
On Monday, Broos used his press conference ahead of the the friendly match against Ghana’s CHAN team to apologise for his remarks, insisting he wants the best for the young defender and prevent him from “wasting his talent”, while reiterating his remarks were neither meant to be racist nor sexist.
“Before you ask, I want to say something about the previous statement, but as you may understand I don’t want any questions about it afterwards,” he stated.
”I’m deeply hurt by what happened in recent days and the worse part of that is that my family, my wife, my children and my grandchildren have also suffered
“I played with people of colour, coached them, worked with them in Algeria, Cameroon and the last four years in South Africa.
“You can ask any of them what kind of man I am, maybe some will say he is a bad coach, maybe some will say he’s a good coach or maybe they will say I’m stubborn, but no one would call me racist.
“With Mbokazi, when he was introduced in his team at Pirates six months ago, we immediately saw his talent. He was awarded with a selection from Bafana Bafana, and he became a regular player. His life changed and suddenly he had many friends, some meant well while others tried to take advantage of him.
“When you attract attention as a young player, 20 years old, you need guidance from people who can prevent you from making the wrong decisions.
“The red card against Zimbabwe was one of his poor decisions, that made me suspect that the guidance wasn’t sufficient – worse he was protected from potential sanctions.
“When Mbokazi arrived late in the Bafana Bafana camp in preparation for the most important tournament of the continent, AFCON, I was incredibly angry on him but even more at some people sending me strange stories to justify his unprofessionalism error.
“I let my [anger] get the better of me in my response cause I saw that things could go wrong. It would be a waste if Mbokazi didn’t pursue the career he was destined for due to a lack of proper guidance, a guidance you need as an unexperienced young, humble talent player.
“I agree that my choice of words was not right and I want to apologise for that. But I never, I repeat I never wanted to make a racist or sexist comment.
“I’m neither a racist nor sexist. I thank you.”
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