Safa offer Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis a new four-year contract

The South African Football Association (Safa) is set to offer Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis a fresh four-year contract to extend her stay with the senior women’s national soccer side. 

Safa said the decision was taken during a recent national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Mbombela, on 14 October 2025.

The soccer federation’s technical committee recommended that Ellis be offered a four-year deal to keep her in the Banyana Banyana hot seat that she has occupied full time since 2018. 

Prior to that, Ellis was assistant coach to Vera Pauw. She then held the head coach role for two years on an interim basis after Pauw’s departure.

The NEC has adopted the recommendation to retain Ellis, and the next step will be to formally table an offer to the coach and initiate negotiations. It’s a positive step for Safa and Ellis as speculation surrounding the 62-year-old’s future has been abundant — especially after some setbacks. 

Recent setbacks and pressure

Banyana Banyana failed to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which piled pressure on Ellis. There were calls for change after that, particularly from Banyana Banyana’s all-time top goal scorer, Portia Modise.

“It’s not like if you leave a position, you did not do well. You did well to put us [where we are]… We need to have a way forward. And the way forward is giving other coaches an opportunity to take over where Des has brought us,” Modise said. 

A poor showing during Banyana Banyana’s defence of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) title they won in 2022 further pressured Ellis. South Africa finished fourth at the Morocco-hosted tournament in July 2025, after losing 4-3 on penalties to Ghana in the bronze medal match. 

In addition to that defeat, the team’s overall showing was impotent and the calls for Ellis to voluntarily vacate the seat resurfaced. 

One of the pertinent questions during this period has been whether Ellis still has the dressing room on her side, particularly the backing from the team’s senior players. 

Some players have accused the coach of siding with Safa when it comes to their regular clashes with the association. 

Alleged ill-treatment

On the back of that disappointing Wafcon campaign, former Banyana Banyana striker Jermaine Seoposenwe said one of the reasons for retiring from national team duty was Safa’s treatment of female players. Treatment the technical team condoned through its silence when players clashed with the association, she said.

“It’s definitely the association and treatment of us in many instances,” Seoposenwe said on Marawa Sports Worldwide regarding her reasons for walking away from Banyana. “Every time we go to a major tournament, we must fight about money and basically everything. Why do we have to fight?

“The country is expecting us to do these amazing things, but they don’t know what is going on behind the scenes, how we are suffering, how we are treated and how we’re constantly fighting.”

At the time of Seoposenwe’s allegations, Safa’s head of communications Mninawa Ntloko told Daily Maverick that the association would not engage in a public sparring match with the player. But Ntloko poured cold water on the allegations. 

Silent Ellis

For her part, Ellis has chosen silence when it comes to her future and a number of things concerning Safa. 

In the lead-up to that ill-fated Wafcon title defence in July, City Press reported that Ellis’ contract expired in 2022. That was when she led Banyana Banyana to their maiden Wafcon title. The publication said the reason Ellis had yet to sign a new contract was because Safa owed her money. 

“I am not going to comment, I have been taken out of context on numerous occasions, and it’s best that I don’t comment on that,” Ellis said. “All over the media, what people are writing is not true. Certain things are not true. So, when people write, they must get the facts right… I am not going to say anything.” 

The fact that the Safa NEC has taken this step probably means that whatever kinks needed to be ironed out around her old contract have been resolved. Or there is at least agreement between the parties.

Banyana Banyana’s next assignment and their first since Wafcon 2024 is a qualifier for next year’s edition of the continental tournament. The South Africans face Democratic Republic of Congo in a two-legged second-round playoff. 

The matches are scheduled for 22 and 28 October, with the first leg away and the return fixture in South Africa. DM