Disability hasn't stopped Patrick Selepe from reaching his dreams on the tennis court.

His name might not ring a bell for many, but those who follow wheelchair tennis certainly recognise the 39-year-old.

Now retired from playing, Selepe is on the verge of making history as the first official with a disability to officiate as a chair umpire in a Davis Cup competition in South Africa.

This after he was named by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Tennis SA among the officials for the upcoming tie between SA and Estonia in Pretoria next month.

Other locals who have been entrusted with officiating the February 3 to 5 tournament at Irene Country Club are Tebogo Maleka from Soweto.

He will share the chair umpire duties with Selepe and Mpho Makhoba of Atteridgeville, Pretoria, as the chief of umpires. Being a chair umpire requires excellent eyesight and concentration and Selepe believes that he has those attributes.

Selepe did his first chair umpire duties during the SA Junior Championships in June last year.

"Officiating is a dream for most of us and for me, this is history in the making," said Selepe, who obtained his ITF White Badge Chair Umpire certification in Cape Town last year in November, becoming SA's first disabled official.

"I was in Wimbledon [in England] last year and I learnt quite a lot there. I had a few games as a line umpire and I did well for a disabled person because the task requires a lot of movement unlike when I am used to do baseline."

Selepe, who was born in Botlokwa in Limpopo, had his left leg amputated above the knee in 1996 due to bone cancer.

But the setback did not deter him from reaching the top ladder of wheelchair tennis - first as a player, then Wheelchair Tennis SA's national development officer and now an umpire.