The former South African international player (pictured top), who has been acting as interim head coach, will succeed Gregg Clark, whose contract ended at the end of last season.

Under Pereira, the national team qualified for the World League semi-finals taking place in Malaysia from June 29 to July 7 when they finished as runners up to South American powerhouse Argentina at the round two event in Brazil in March.

"It's an honour to be appointed head coach of the national men's team and I look forward to working with the rest of the management team as there is a lot of work for us to do to get ready for Malaysia," Pereira said.

SAHA chief executive Marissa Langeni welcomed the appointment and said it was in line with their development strategy on the path to Rio 2016.

"We appoint coaches on an Olympic cycle and Gregg was appointed prior to the Beijing Games in 2008, so his contract came to an end," she explained.

"We did open it up for Gregg to apply for the post again, but this is the start of a new era."


Alongside Pereira, SAHA also named four trainers, three team managers, three video analysts and a conditioning coach for the team for the coming years.

South Africa's men secured their first sponsor in years when Mugg & Bean joined forces with the national body last month.

However, Langeni insisted that the funds gained from that deal had not been used to boost the management structure within the organisation.

"These people are all employed full-time in other jobs, and we'll appoint a team management for each tournament based on who is available," she said.

"We would also like to give local coaches some exposure, so we've broadened our base."

After Malaysia, the South African men's hockey team will head to Kenya to compete in the Africa Cup, taking place from September 27 to October 5.

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