Jabu Jeremiah Mahlangu (born Jabu Jeremiah Pule on 11 July 1980) is a former South African

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

South Africa

Pule's first club was

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) is a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premiership. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Kings" or "Chiefs" in Zu ...

, where his contract was terminated in 2004 due to unprofessional conduct. He began trials for

SV Mattersburg SV Mattersburg was an Austrian association football club from Mattersburg, Burgenland. History The club was formed in 1922 and played its home games at the 17,100 capacity Pappelstadion. The club played in the Bundesliga The Bunde ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, but after eight months, he was asked to leave the club after crashing his car while under the influence of alcohol. Twice sent to a rehabilitation clinic to overcome his problems with drinking and drugs, Pule was sacked by

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 Di ...

in late 2005 after missing several training sessions. He was then signed by

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as Betway Premiership. The team plays i ...

and changed his surname to Mahlangu in early 2006.

Sweden

Pule left South Africa on 23 June 2008 for trials with Swedish clubs

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs Idrottsförening, commonly referred to as Helsingborgs IF, Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan, following releg ...

IF Limhamn Bunkeflo IF Limhamn Bunkeflo may refer to * IF Limhamn Bunkeflo (men's) *IF Limhamn Bunkeflo (women's) IF Limhamn Bunkeflo 07, commonly known as LB07, is a football club based in Malmö, Sweden. It is the biggest football club from the Scania region. T ...

, and

Östers IF Östers Idrottsförening, commonly known as Östers IF or simply Öster, is a Swedish sports club located in Växjö, specializing in Association football, football. For the 2025 Allsvenskan, 2025 season the club is back in the top tier, Allsve ...

, after training under the guidance of Farouk Khan at his academy in South Africa. He completed 13 games for Östers IF in Division 1 Södra as the team came close to promotion into Superettan, with none of the problematic behaviour that had previously marred his career. On 18 February 2010, Jabu signed a one-year contract with now Superettan newcomers Östers IF.

International career

Jabu made 20 appearances for the

South Africa national football team The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for soccer in South Africa. Nicknamed Bafana Bafana (The Boys in Zulu), the ...

from 2000 to 2004, and was a participant at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and at the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. During the team's departure for the World Cup, South African president

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

, while shaking hands with the players to wish them good luck, said to him: "Jabu, you must behave yourself". He was not selected for the South African squad in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, due to his behavior.

Career statistics

International goals

References

External links

*
Guardian's Stats Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahlangu, Jabu 1980 births Living people People from Daveyton South African men's soccer players South African expatriate men's soccer players South Africa men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players for South Africa Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 African Cup of Nations players Men's association football midfielders Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players SuperSport United F.C. players Orlando Pirates F.C. players SV Mattersburg players Platinum Stars F.C. players Östers IF players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Soccer players from Gauteng 21st-century South African sportsmen Superettan players Ettan Fotboll players