Siboniso "Pa" Gaxa (born 6 April 1984 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is loca ...

) is a former South African

football defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

who played for

Ajax Cape Town Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ...

, Kaizer Chiefs F.C., Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. and the South African national team.

Personal

Gaxa hails from

KwaMashu KwaMashu is a township north of Durban, South Africa. The name is in honour of Sir Marshall Campbell and means ''Place of Marshall''. KwaMashu is bordered by Newlands East to the south, Newlands West to the west, Ntuzuma to the north, Phoenix t ...

, Durban. He was given the nickname "Pa" because he was unusually mature as a child. He graduated from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

with a degree in Political Science and Social Studies in 2019.

Club career

Gaxa attended the

University of Port Elizabeth The University of Port Elizabeth (UPE) was a public university located in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. UPE was founded on 31 January 1964, by an act of parliament, and held its first academic year in 1965. It off ...

, which at that time had a football team controlled by Danish side

F.C. Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure o ...

. However, he was not one of the three players, Elrio van Heerden,

Lee Langeveldt Lee Langeveldt (born 10 November 1986) is a South African association footballer who plays for National First Division club Stellenbosch. Career Langeveldt is a goalkeeper and began his career at South African club Idas Valley. He was a pro ...

and Bongumusa Mthethwa, who made it from the FCK-UPE Academy to

. He is managed by ExtraTime S.L. In 2002, he moved to

Supersport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional association football, football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the South African Premier Div ...

, where he stayed for six seasons, before joining Mamelodi Sundowns in 2008. In 2010, he moved to Belgian club

Lierse Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the six ...

. After the 2011–12 season, he was released by the team. On 15 May 2012 Gaxa signed a three-year contract for

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Ch ...

with the option to renew for one year. After 99 league appearances and 1 goal for Chiefs, he was released at the end of the 2015–16 season. He signed a short-term contract with

Bidvest Wits Bidvest Wits Football Club, (simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional football club from Johannesburg which played in the Premier Soccer League the first-tier of South African league football system. ...

in November 2016, but was released by Bidvest Wits in October 2017 following the expiry of his deal in the summer. Gaxa signed for

in February 2018. He retired later that year after leaving Ajax Cape Town.

International career

Gaxa made his international debut in a

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

qualifier against

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

on 4 June 2005. He was part of South Africa's squad at the

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ( CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorio ...

2006 African Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt. Just like in 2004 African Cup of Nations, 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split into f ...

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Jo ...

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

and 2013 African Cup of Nations.

Honours

Supersport United

MTN 8 MTN 8 is the current branding for a South African soccer cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding top-flight league (currently the DStv Premiership) season. T ...

– 2004 *

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's premier club soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of giving lower league and amateur teams a chance t ...

– 2005 * Premier Soccer League – 2007/08

Kaizer Chiefs

* Premier Soccer League – 2012/13 Premier Soccer League – 2014/15 *

– 2013 * Carling Black Label – 2013 *

– 2014

Bidvest Wits

* Premier Soccer League – 2016/17 *

– 2016

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaxa, Siboniso 1984 births Living people Soccer players from Durban South African men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders South Africa men's international soccer players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players South African expatriate men's soccer players South African expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Belgian Pro League players SuperSport United F.C. players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players Lierse S.K. players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Nelson Mandela University alumni