Former Bafana star Sibusiso Zuma says the last time he saw a Safa official was around 2008

Sibusiso Zuma has complained that he does not believe he has had contact with an SA Football Association (Safa) official since he stopped playing.

The 2000s Bafana Bafana star – one of South Africa’s most successful exports for FC Copenhagen in Denmark‚ where he became a legend – was asked at a Bundesliga event in Johannesburg featuring German 1990 World Cup-winning captain Lothar Matthäus where he felt SA football has been failing.

Like many of his generation‚ Zuma feels the knowledge of ex-Bafana stars such as his generation who qualified for and played at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea‚ and the previous generation who won the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations‚ have been too easily discarded.

“The problem with us‚ here‚ is planning. We don’t have systems like that‚” Zuma said.

“So when you’re done playing for Bafana Bafana‚ it’s over for you. I think the last time I saw a Safa official was around 2008.

“So‚ since I’ve stopped playing I’ve never met these guys. I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe that’s the reason [SA football is failing].

“These guys [Germany] have a pool of 500 legends. And then they can just pick and send them to South Africa‚ or wherever.

“So it starts there. For us‚ if I was to talk to someone who I was playing with‚ maybe Doc Khumalo‚ I have to call him.

“So if we’re going to fail in doing something small like that‚ then we have bigger problems.”

Matthäus added about Germany’s legends association: “Let me just comment because I am the president of these legends.

“When we have legends games or events we like to keep the contacts between the players who played maybe 25 or 30 years ago for the national team. We are all in a pool.

“We meet twice a year. And when we have an event or charity event I can go to the president of the German FA and say‚ ‘We need this [former] player’.”

Zuma retired from international football in 2008. He ended his club career at SuperSport United in 2015.