The South African Football Association on Saturday announced the appointment of current under-17 head coach Molefi Ntseki as interim coach of the national men’s football team with immediate effect.

Ntseki’s appointment comes a day after Stuart Baxter resigned from the post weeks after leading South Africa to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Total Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Baxter was appointed in May 2017 on a five-year deal with the objective of overseeing South Africa’s qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar.

“Given that Ntseki has been with Bafana Bafana for quite a while now, it was felt that in the interest of continuity, and given the upcoming fixtures in September, Ntseki is best placed to follow through with the foundation that has been laid by Coach Baxter, who resigned on Friday, 2 August 2019,” a statement by SAFA read in part.

SAFA described Ntseki as “an entrenched student” of SAFA’s Vision 2022,which entails a fundamental rebuilding of the structures of SAFA at every levels to bring sustained international success of South Africa’s national teams.

SAFA added that the Technical Committee resolved to appoint a task team which will be mandated to shortlist candidates for the job permanently. The candidates’ names are scheduled to be released in the course of the week, according to SAFA.

SAFA said it intends to resolve the issue of filling the vacancy by the end of August but urged for patience as the matter is one of high importance.

“…it is to be understood that with these matters, it involves complex negotiations with the potential replacement, and therefore not always possible to resolve such matters in a short space of time,” the statement read in conclusion.