Hugo Broos is no longer South Africa's coach. The contract ended after Bafana Bafana lost 1-0 to Canada in the World Cup round of 32 in Los Angeles. On 25 August the sports minister Gayton McKenzie told Parliament what the Belgian had been paid to get them there.
| At a glance | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 April 1952, Humbeek, Belgium |
| Playing career | Anderlecht 1970 to 1983, Club Brugge 1983 to 1988, 24 Belgium caps |
| Biggest title as coach | 2017 Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon |
| South Africa spell | 5 May 2021 to 11 July 2026, 78 games, 36 wins, 27 draws, 15 defeats |
| Salary | R16.8 million a year plus car and accommodation, per McKenzie |
| World Cup bonus | About 10% of South Africa's FIFA payout, roughly R19 million |
| Net worth | Not public |
What Broos earned at Bafana Bafana
McKenzie did not hedge. “Hugo Broos got R16.8m annually, that excludes car and accommodation,” he told the portfolio committee on sport, which works out at about R1.4 million a month and is the figure Business Day put in its headline the next morning.
At the roughly R15.8 to the dollar implied by the reported FIFA payout, it comes to close to $88,000 a month. At the official Nigerian rate of ₦1,346 to the dollar on 3 November, that is about ₦119 million.
Both conversions are ours.
The South African Football Association had not volunteered any of it, and its chief executive Lydia Monyepao told MPs that remuneration is confidential.
Older numbers still circulate. Our earlier version of this page said R750,000 a month, and Briefly gave the same sum as his pay at appointment in 2021, then about R1 million later, without naming a source for either. Neither matches the minister. Both are removed. The World Cup money came on top. SAFA's chief financial officer Gronie Hluyo confirmed to the committee that Broos was due about 10% of the federation's FIFA payout, which Sowetan put at $12 million. For Broos that came to around R19 million.
The pay itself became a public argument because of the comparison with his successor. Linda Zwane, a SAFA vice-president, told the committee that Pitso Mosimane was first offered R5 million a year, and that the offer rose to R10 million after public anger.
Nobody has published a net worth figure
We used to print $5 million here without a source, so the figure has gone.
Sites that do carry a number, Briefly among them, offer a range of $1 million to $4 million and admit it is unconfirmed, which makes it a guess dressed up as a range, and a guess is all it can be. Broos has never disclosed his assets, and we found no filing or interview that lets anyone add up what a 74-year-old with four decades in coaching actually owns. His net worth is not public.
Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Mexico 86 as a player
Broos left Humbeek as a teenager for Anderlecht. He stayed 13 years as a central defender. Anderlecht won three league titles and four Belgian Cups in that time. In Europe came the Cup Winners' Cup in 1976 and 1978, two European Super Cups and the UEFA Cup in 1983, which makes five continental trophies in all once the two Super Cups are counted alongside the three cups proper, all of them won while he was in the Anderlecht side. He moved to Club Brugge in 1983. He won the Belgian Cup there in 1986 and the league in 1988. He retired that year. For Belgium he played 24 times between 1974 and 1986 and finished fourth at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Coaching career from Club Brugge to Cameroon
He started at RWD Molenbeek in 1988. He took Club Brugge in 1991 and won the league in 1992 and 1996. Anderlecht gave him the 2003-04 title. He left a year later. Genk, Panserraikos, Trabzonspor, Zulte Waregem and two Algerian clubs followed, none for long.
Cameroon came in 2016. A year later he won the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, beating Egypt 2-1 in the final after Vincent Aboubakar scored in the 88th minute. Broos stayed measured: “We are delighted but we are not yet the finished product.”
Bafana Bafana, Nigeria and the end
For Nigerian readers, Broos is the man on the losing bench in Bouaké in February 2024, when the Super Eagles reached the final. They beat South Africa on penalties in the AFCON semi-final after a 1-1 draw. Stanley Nwabali saved the first two spot kicks. You can read how that night unfolded or check the full head-to-head record. Three days later South Africa beat DR Congo 6-5 on penalties for bronze.
Cameroon knocked them out of the 2025 AFCON in Rabat. It finished 2-1 in the round of 16, with Evidence Makgopa's 88th-minute goal arriving far too late to rescue a side that had trailed since the 34th minute. The 2026 World Cup, South Africa's first in 16 years, followed, and a place in the last 32 that no Bafana side had managed before. They finished second in their group behind Mexico, beating South Korea 1-0 and drawing 1-1 with Czechia.
Broos had said he would retire when his deal ended. He did not extend. He cited time away from his family. SAFA denied reports of a sacking. Mosimane was unveiled on 1 September at SAFA House in Nasrec. He credited Broos with laying a very good foundation. Broos had warned that Bafana would “go five years back in time” under a local coach.
Another South African wage story is covered in our piece on Relebohile Mofokeng's reported salary.
