Desiree Ellis who was assistant to Banyana Banyana coach Vera Pauw will take charge of the Women Senior National Team on the interim basis until a full time mentor is appointed.

Ellis spent two-and-half years as Pauw’s assistant and the two had a cordial working relationship.

Maude Khumalo and Sheryl Botes will assist Ellis; the former as an assistant while Botes will be the technical advisor.

Khumalo has been in charge of the U/20 (Basetsana) and U17 (Bantwana) while Botes is the head coach at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria.

All three have the highest coaching certificates, the CAF ‘A’ Licence and are renowned former Banyana Banyana players. Ellis and her assistants have begun preparing Banyana Banyana for the African Women’s championships that will take place in Cameroon in November and

December this year with a number of friendly matches lined up for girls.

“We decided to have continuity within the team hence we have placed confidence in those who have worked with Vera (Pauw) before.

We have strong confidence that Ellis and her assistants will do a good job. In the meantime, the Association is busy sifting through the names of possible candidates that will take over from Vera. We don’t want to rush the process as we want the best possible candidate for the job,” said SAFA CEO Dennis Mumble.