Tefu Mashamaite (born 27 September 1984 in Bochum, Transvaal) is a South African association football player who plays as a defender.

Mashamaite is known for punishing defences with his powerful headers from corners and dead ball situations[1] and his penchant for scoring in his hometown of Polokwane.

[4] He did not make an appearance and was loaned to Brixton-based Stars of Africa Academy under Farouk Khan with the likes of May Mahlangu, Tokelo Rantie and Sibusiso Khumalo.

[10] He was a key figure when Bidvest Wits won the Nedbank Cup, beating AmaZulu 3–0 at FNB Stadium on 22 May 2010.

[12] Mashamaite joined Chiefs in July 2011 from Wits to replace the outgoing Valery Nahayo who left for KAA Gent in Belgium.

[18] On 20 October 2014, he scored a header being the solitary goal against Ajax Cape Town[19] to help Chiefs set a new domestic record of 15 wins in a row.

[23][24][25] He later attracted interest from Anorthosis Famagusta and Danish giants Brondby but eventually signed with BK Häcken on 5 August 2015.

Tefu returns to South African football by joining the side managed by his former coach, Stuart Baxter.

He'll excel at smothering attackers on set pieces and corner kicks, and will typically be one of the first players to respond to changes within a play (e.g. clearing a rebound off the post) due to his relatively high reactions rating.

Physically, he takes longer than most players to reach top speed, which only exacerbates his comparatively slow pace.