Molefi Ntseki urges government intervention for School of Excellence

This follows confirmation that state-owned company Transnet have informed its long-term partner SAFA of their decision to stop funding the school after more than two decades. 

Financial constraints are reportedly the main reason they are pulling the plug but SABC Sport has long heard of how SAFA have neglected its duties in taking care of the footballing operations.

Transnet’s annual budget for the school is understood to be around R20 million, and Ntseki has urged government as well as the private sector to step in to save the school as a national asset.

"It will be a very huge blow to football as a whole because, if you look at it now, Sundowns are benefitting from the School of Excellence, we are also benefitting from them," said Ntseki.

"One thing very good about the management of the SOE, they don't stand in the way of a player if he's recruited by PSL teams or maybe overseas teams, which is very good.

"They develop players to have a career in football, so if ever somebody comes around and says, 'I'm interested in this player', they don't make life difficult, they will engage in a professional manner of negotiating and, when an agreement is reached, the players is released.

"SOE has always been a national academy, so I think in this case, let the government get involved, let them help in the running of SOE, because to run an academy is very expensive – I come from that background, I know what it's like.

"I was with Harmony Academy for five years, for which it cost millions of rands that get put into the development of those players, not only on the football side but also the education side.

"SOE is a football and academic school, so if you lose a centre like that, where are we going to produce the Puso Dithejane's, Siya Gumede's and Keaviano's [Francis] of this world?

"It's important to say even the private sector must come in and make sure that we preserve the School of Excellence because we are all benefitting and we have all benefitted, the nation has benefitted."