Referee Abongile Tom is closing in on a return to officiating top-flight matches in the country, KickOff has been led to believe.
Tom has not blown his whistle in the South African Premier League since his controversial decisions in the MTN8 final between Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC in October.
READ | Bafana striker: It's tough as well to be on the bench at Pirates
He was heavily criticized after he allowed Pirates to play a quick free-kick, metres away from where the foul took place, with the Buccaneers going on to score from that passage of play in the dying minutes, to make it 2-1 and ultimately got the third goal.
Speaking exclusively to this website three weeks ago, SAFA Head of Referees Abdul Ebrahim denied that Tom had been suspended and revealed that he was actually officiating in the COSAFA Women's Championship, which was taking place in Gqeberha last month and ended on 2 November.
Former PSL referee Victor Hlungwani confirmed after the incident in the MTN8 final that the 32-year-old was in the wrong to allow the Soweto giants to take a free-kick further away from its original place.
Although SAFA do not want to admit it, Tom appeared to have received a four-week suspension of officiating in the PSL (including National First Division), similar to his colleague Luxolo Badi, who was only banned for four weeks in September last year, after he denied Kaizer Chiefs a clear penalty in a 2-1 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 semi-final second leg.
Badi missed a month of officiating and his return had conditions of first refereeing in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, where he was in charge of two games before he was reinstalled in the elite division.
After spending exactly four weeks without refereeing in the PSL (including NFD), Tom also had his first game in the MFC just under two weeks ago in a match between Highbury and Hungry Lions, a day before the conclusion of the COSAFA Women's Championship.
READ: Khune burns Chiefs bridge?
Should SAFA be satisfied with Tom's showing, his return to the topflight could be imminent, after the international break.
The Cape Town-born match official, who was the only main South African referee at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations, has been scheduled to blow the whistle in the AFCON qualifier game between Gabon and Morocco on Friday, 15 November.