Pirates defender now standing on 16 months wait
by Lovemore Moyo · KickOffThe stretch attached to Tapelo Xoki’s wait to play again at Orlando Pirates has moved past 16 months as he negotiates his way to earning minutes again at the club.
Xoki’s last appearance for Pirates was on May 24, 2025.
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Sixteen months later and with a count of 57 games played, the 31-year-old is yet to get official minutes again.
He has only been in the matchday squad just once this season.
This happened at the beginning of September away at Kruger United when he was an unused substitute as Pirates ran riot against the league’s new boys.
The issue at hand for Xoki has been injury related after he came out amongst those worst affected during a motor vehicle pile-up accident as they headed home after beating Chippa United 3-0.
He was then admitted to hospital needing medical supervision for several months which included using crutches.
Having now progressed all the way back to be in contention to play again, all he needs now are minutes.
Unfortunately, the challenge facing him the two first choice central defenders Lebone Seema and Nkosinathi Sibisi have done so well that they are now both in the Bafana Bafana squad.
Then there is Sbangani Zulu who has been getting a fair share of minutes this season since arriving from Richards Bay.
The 23-year-old is already being mentioned as a senior national team prospect.
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Mpho Chabatsane is also itching to play more than he has done so far to date.
For Xoki, worth noting is that this is also the last season on his current contract at Pirates and so will have an extension to play for.
Photo: Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images