Zakhele Lepasa: Soccer Career, Club, Bafana Caps and Net Worth

Zakhele Lepasa is a South African soccer centre forward, born on 3 January 1997 in Soweto, whose full name is Zakhele Lerato Lepasa. His most recent documented permanent move, in September 2025, was to Siwelele.

The quick money answer is a published estimate of R5 to R7 million from Afrik-Foot in October 2025, while his international caps require a dated qualification. His story connects a Pirates career, a winning cup final penalty and a fresh opportunity at Siwelele. Following those steps explains more than an isolated wealth figure or an international total whose reporting stopped in 2023.

Who Is Zakhele Lerato Lepasa?

Zakhele Lerato Lepasa and Zakhele Lepasa are the same player, a Soweto born South African striker who has played for Orlando Pirates. For readers meeting him through South Africa, his Pirates career and loan spells help explain his route into senior soccer. His name became particularly familiar beyond Pirates through TS Galaxy’s 2019 Nedbank Cup success, before his senior Pirates debut later that year.

Which club did Zakhele Lepasa join in 2025? SABC Sport reported his free transfer to Siwelele on deadline day, 22 September 2025, with a further report following on 25 September. The club module tracks registrations beyond that September 2025 transfer. For readers exploring African soccer players, Siwelele represents a move within South Africa’s domestic game. The Premier Soccer League, usually shortened to PSL, runs the professional competition whose top division is the Premiership.

The Road From Soweto: Loans, Pirates and Siwelele

Lepasa’s senior route included Orlando Pirates and loan spells before his permanent departure in 2025. He joined Stellenbosch on a season long loan in August 2018, then moved on loan to TS Galaxy in February 2019. No fee is documented for either temporary move. Those destinations gave his development a practical direction: opportunities away from his parent club, followed by a cup campaign that put his finishing under national attention.

The defining breakthrough came with TS Galaxy in the 2019 Nedbank Cup final against Kaizer Chiefs. Lepasa scored the only goal from the penalty spot, securing the trophy for the club where he was playing on loan. He subsequently made his Pirates senior debut as a substitute on 14 September 2019 in a 2 to 1 victory over Chippa United. The order matters: his celebrated cup final moment came before his first senior appearance for Orlando Pirates.

Another loan took him to SuperSport United in 2023, again with no documented fee. He later returned to Pirates before leaving the club in 2025. His departure created an unusual international chapter: CAF reported on 27 July 2025 that he had been selected for South Africa’s African Nations Championship squad while unattached. Selection offered an opportunity to represent his country during the interval between his Pirates career and his next permanent club.

Siwelele signed him as a free agent on 22 September 2025, and the move received further reporting on 25 September. A free transfer means there was no transfer fee payable to his former club; it does not reveal his wages or any personal signing payment. His route links loan opportunities with a senior Pirates career and a fresh start at Siwelele. His 2019 Nedbank Cup belongs under TS Galaxy, even where an honours list places it beside his Pirates trophies.

What Does Lepasa Do on the Pitch?

Lepasa plays as a centre forward, the central attacking role commonly described as striker or number 9. That position brings responsibility for occupying defenders and turning service into attempts on goal. Those are useful things to watch when assessing his contribution. A goals column tells you the outcome of some attacks, while the match itself shows whether his movement gives teammates a pass or creates room around the penalty area. For Kenyan, Ugandan, Nigerian and Ghanaian viewers following his 2025 CHAN selection, those movements offer a way to assess the South African striker beyond his scoring record.

His winning penalty for TS Galaxy against Kaizer Chiefs in the 2019 cup final provides a specific example of his contribution. It demonstrates a decisive contribution under the pressure of a final, although one kick cannot establish every part of a striker’s game. The better reading is specific: TS Galaxy needed a goal against Chiefs, and Lepasa supplied the winning one. That achievement gives supporters a concrete reference point when discussing his breakthrough, rather than relying on broad claims about his ability.

National selection also provides context for how his potential was viewed. In November 2022, Hugo Broos publicly defended calling him into Bafana Bafana and described him as a young striker with great potential, according to Sowetan. Lepasa started the friendly victory over Mozambique on 17 November 2022. The useful distinction is between a coach’s assessment and a measured playing attribute: the endorsement records confidence in him, while detailed claims about speed or aerial strength need separate evidence.

Lepasa and Bafana Bafana: Debut, Goals and the Caps Question

Lepasa made his senior South Africa debut against Botswana at the COSAFA Cup on 2 June 2019. The match finished 2 to 2 before Botswana won the penalty shootout 5 to 4; Lepasa converted his shootout attempt. That distinction matters when reading international scoring records. A successful shootout kick helps decide a knockout tie, but it is recorded separately from goals scored during the match and should not be added to his international goals total.

The records module carries Lepasa’s international caps and goals. Read those totals alongside the provider’s coverage, distinguishing squad selection from an appearance and match goals from shootout kicks.

Lepasa scored against Angola in a friendly on 20 November 2022, Liberia in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on 28 March 2023, and Morocco in another qualifier on 17 June 2023. His Wikipedia honours also include South Africa’s bronze at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, an edition played in 2024. Keeping the tournament edition alongside its playing year helps readers match the honour to the correct competition.

His July 2025 CHAN selection connected his career with another African audience. The African Nations Championship is intended for players competing in their domestic leagues, giving home based talent a continental stage. For readers in Kenya and Uganda, and followers of domestic players in Nigeria and Ghana, the important career detail is that Lepasa received his selection while between clubs, before his September move to Siwelele.

Zakhele Lepasa net worth

Afrik-Foot estimated Zakhele Lepasa’s net worth at R5 to R7 million in an article published on 5 October 2025. Savanna News had listed him as “worth $550,000” on 3 December 2021, without citing a source for that amount. These are published estimates, never accounts, and neither outlet explains its method. The figures differ widely in date, currency and stated value, so they cannot establish a reliable change in his personal wealth.

Afrik-Foot’s October 2025 article also listed R150,000 a month as his previous Orlando Pirates salary. Treat that as an unofficial historical wage estimate, rather than an announced Siwelele salary. It offers a more specific earnings claim than the wealth range, but specificity does not make it verified. No club published wage document supports that amount, and it should not be multiplied across his entire career as though every contract paid the same.

The reported financial estimates do not establish endorsement income, image rights earnings or a separate market valuation. These gaps should remain gaps: a visible pair of boots does not establish a paid sponsorship agreement. Likewise, a transfer fee goes to a club rather than automatically becoming the player’s income, while a free transfer tells you nothing definite about the player’s accumulated assets.

Net worth means assets minus liabilities, which requires information beyond a reported wage. Savings, property, investments and debts would all affect the calculation. Readers using dollars, naira, Kenyan or Ugandan shillings, or cedis should convert the rand estimates with a dated exchange rate. The $550,000 claim is its own 2021 estimate, not a dollar conversion of the 2025 rand range; presenting it as one would give the comparison false precision.

How to Watch Lepasa From Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda

To watch Lepasa, start with the dated fixture and viewing information for his club or South Africa, then check availability in your country. Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Uganda may have different television or streaming packages from South Africa. League matches, domestic cups and national tournaments can also have separate arrangements. A channel carrying one competition therefore does not establish coverage of another, and an old broadcast article should not be treated as a continuing viewing promise. SABC Sport’s reporting on his September 2025 Siwelele move and CAF’s July 2025 CHAN selection coverage provide useful background for readers following his route between domestic and continental soccer.

Read the opponent, competition, confirmed venue and kick off time together before choosing a listing. Time zones are especially useful across this readership: SAST is one hour ahead of WAT, EAT is one hour ahead of SAST, and GMT is two hours behind SAST. A fixture time should therefore appear with WAT for Nigeria, EAT for Kenya and Uganda, SAST for South Africa, and GMT for Ghana. Check that any listing refers to the same calendar date.

The fixtures and results modules provide the changing match information, while the records module separates historical totals by competition. When checking his club’s league progress, use the Premiership log alongside the remaining fixtures rather than reading an individual result as the whole story. For national appearances, distinguish selection from playing time and check whether CHAN matches fall within the record provider’s coverage. Before arranging your viewing, confirm the specific match in your local television or streaming guide.