Johannesburg — THOSE inept silk suits at the South African Football Association (Safa) must be tickled pink that Butana Komphela - chairman of the parliamentary portfolio committee on sport - usually reserves his most outrageous rants for rugby.

Our Komphela's determined bid to kill the Springbok and hang the animal's head on a wall as a trophy has taken up so much of his time that he's hardly noticed Safa's lengthening list of indiscretions over the years.

And our man was at it again last week when he called for the scrapping of the Springbok emblem, telling a sports indaba in Durban that it was a symbol of white arrogance.

The fiery one said there could be "no negotiation" on the Springbok and many of those who were present felt he whipped himself into such a frenzy that he deserved an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language category for his performance. Wow!

Too bad he didn't display the same vociferous determination when Bafana Bafana suffered the embarrassing indignity of failing to qualify for the 2010 African Nations Cup last month.

Too bad he didn't unleash a barrage of rhetoric when Bafana came back to SA with their tails between their legs after the mortification of not winning a single match during the African Nations Cup in Ghana early this year.

Too bad he couldn't take time out of his demanding Springbok-bashing schedule and direct one of his trademark rants towards Safa after Bafana's failure to qualify for the 2006 Soccer World Cup.

Believe me, the above- mentioned examples are just the tip of the iceberg as the incompetence at Safa is on such a frightening scale that Komphela would barely have time for anything else if he actually gave as much attention to soccer as he does to rugby.

But then again, perhaps the man has learnt some important lessons after realising that these pesky soccer bosses are a different kettle of fish. A case in point was when our man tackled all-powerful soccer boss Irvin Khoza during a live radio debate a few months ago and soon realised that he'd perhaps bitten off more than he could chew.

Khoza took no prisoners and went on the offensive, putting our man on the back foot.

Things got so heated that had South African Rugby Union (Saru) president Oregan Hoskins been listening, he'd have realised that the firebrand Komphela could be tamed.

Hell, even former president Thabo Mbeki found out the hard way that soccer is a tricky business, after deciding in the aftermath of the Springboks' winning the Rugby World Cup last October that maybe it would be a good idea for Bafana Bafana to have a name change.

So furious were the debates around Mbeki's suggestion that even shepherds in the sleepy village of Ntsongeni in the Eastern Cape politely suggested that our erstwhile commander-in-chief rather concentrate on the many people who offered him the warmest of smiles while clutching well-sharpened daggers behind their backs ahead of the ANC's watershed elective conference in Polokwane last December.

Through all that, Safa has been allowed to happily maintain their long established tradition of continuing to move from one crisis to the next without having to account to anyone for the shoddy way they run the sport.

And as you may have noticed, soccer has hardly heard a whisper from Komphela because he's had that marksman's target centred on the Springbok.

How those silk suits in Nasrec must appreciate the man's dedication to the Boks.

Ntloko is sports editor.