Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi has called on the South African Football Association (Safa) to support local coaches and appoint Gavin Hunt as the new Bafana Bafana head coach to succeed Brazilian Joel Santana.

Speaking after a press briefing for the MTN8 cup final in Soweto on Thursday, Mngqithi, one of the best young up-and-coming coaches in the Premier Soccer League, said he supported Hunt because the SuperSport United coach had won the PSL title back to back and had proved he was ready to take his country to the 2010 World Cup finals on home soil next June.

Mngqithi's Arrows feature in their first cup final against Ajax Cape Town at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday night. He is regarded as one of the best coaching prospects and a future national head coach.

"Hunt deserved his chance, but so do coaches like Jomo Sono who has proved himself at the African Nations Cup and Word Cup (2002) finals," Mngqithi said.

"I would also support the likes of Gordon Igesund, who has won four PSL league titles, and current Bafana assistant coach Pitso Mosimane before we bring in another foreigner at great expense."

Mngqithi added that when SAFA's national executive committee meet in Kempton Park on Friday afternoon to decide the way forward after Santana quit on Monday, they should not look outside of South Africa for a new Bafana coach.

"Local coaches have proved themselves to be as good, if not better than the imported ones in the PSL," he said.

"SAFA must give local coaches some encouragement. Local coaches know the culture of the Bafana players and would do a far better job than Santana did.

"I will be disappointed if they appoint another overseas coach to guide Bafana."

But Safa are expected to name former Brazilian World Cup winner Carlos Alberto Parreira as head coach with Sono as Bafana technical director after Friday's meeting. However, Hunt, Sono and former Bafana head coach Clive Barker met with Safa on Thursday to discuss the vacant coaching position.

Former South African national captain and current AmaZulu coach Neil Tovey backed Barker as the right man to lead Bafana out of the wilderness rather than Parreira.

Parreira won the 1994 World Cup with Brazil. He quit as Bafana's coach last April, citing his wife's illness as the reason for leaving, but many believe that Parreira was upset by the way SAFA officials interfered with him during his time in charge.

Reports from Brazil, however, stated that he was happy to return, although SAPA's source said that Parreira's star had fallen in the past months after he was sacked as coach of top Brazilian First Division club Fluminese.

Tovey said he was happy that Santana resigned after a disastrous 17 month reign in which South Africa have gone backwards and are now 85th in the FIFA world rankings.

"Santana had to go. The players had lost their confidence and it was showing," Tovey said.

"I support a local coach to take us to the World Cup and further. Barker would be my choice as he has the experience after leading Bafana to triumph in the 1996 African Nations Cup final. "We need a coach to rebuild the players' broken morale and give them back their confidence and Barker would be perfect. He has the pedigree and I believe he should be given the job."

Tovey added that Parreira would be the wrong choice for the position.

"I do not believe that he would take South African soccer forward," he said.

"Parreira will leave af ter the World Cup and then what? We have to start all over again. If not Barker then we have Gavin Hunt and Pitso Mosimane to take the side to the World Cup. "I strongly believe a local born coach should be given this opportunity."

Tovey then suggested that former players such as himself, another former captain Lucas Radebe, Mark Fish, Chippa Masinga, Andre Arendse and others could assist the technical team. "As former national team players we have experience which we could impart on the current crop of Bafana players," he said.