Doctor Siyabonga Sangweni (born 29 September 1981), known as Siyabonga Sangweni, is a retired South African soccer defender who used to play for

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

club

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

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. His younger brother Thamsanqa Sangweni is also a footballer and he also played for

Club career

Golden Arrows

Nsimbi as he is efficiently known as in the football circles sign for Abafana Bes'thende in 2005 from

SAFA Second Division The SAFA Second Division (known as the ABC Motsepe League for sponsorship reasons, and previously the Vodacom League between 1998 and 2012, was founded in 1998 as the overall third tier of South African association football, football. The compet ...

side Uthukela. He played well for Arrows and contributed to the club's first major silverware which was the

MTN 8 The MTN 8 is a South African soccer single-elimination tournament, cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding season of the top-flight league (currently the Sout ...

in 2009. He attracted many clubs and eventually signed for Orlando Pirates in 2011.

Orlando Pirates

Sangweni signed with Orlando Pirates at the beginning of the 2011/12 season. Hailed as one of the best signings of the season due to his defensive abilities. He was a regular starter for Bafana Bafana while playing for

Golden Arrows Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. are a South African soccer club based in Durban that plays in the Premiership. History It was founded in 1943 in the streets of Lamontville, a township in Durban. The club played in the defunct National Profes ...

. Siyabonga became a regular at Orlando Pirates and went on to have 28 league appearances in his first season at Pirates. Due to him being very instrumental in the Pirates treble winning of the season, he was nominated as a Footballer of the Season which eventually went to the League's leading goalscorer, Siyabonga Nomvethe of

Swallows The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The t ...

. He has enjoyed much game-time along Lucky Lekgwathi and Rooi Mahamutsa. He got an injury that kept him to almost all the 2013/14 season.

Retirement

In a press conference on 7 April 2016, Pirates' chairman

Irvin Khoza Irvin Khoza OIS (born 27 January 1948) is a South African football administrator and businessman. Nicknamed "Iron Duke / "MadalaGufets", he is the Chairman of Orlando Pirates Football Club, Chairman of the South African Premier Soccer League and ...

announced that Sangweni has been plagued by a string of injuries. Khoza said that after consultation, the medics have confirmed that the former

Bafana Bafana 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 ...

centre back has to end his career early. Khoza said Sangweni, who has 29 Bafana caps with four goals, will be remembered as a club legend.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

;Lamontville Golden Arrows *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

;Orlando Pirates *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Telkom Knockout The Carling Knockout Cup is a South African professional soccer knockout competition which comprises the 16 teams in the South African Premiership. The Carling Knockout Cup is the third of the three main cups administered by the PSL along with ...

: 2011 *

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of gi ...

: 2013–14 *

: 2011–12 *

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

: Runners-up

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

: Runners-up

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sangweni, Siyabonga 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Empangeni South African men's soccer players Men's association football defenders South Africa men's international soccer players Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Orlando Pirates F.C. players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Nathi Lions F.C. players Soccer players from KwaZulu-Natal 21st-century South African sportsmen