Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(S.Afr.) a friend.

1970		informant in DSAE.
1974		T. Dell ‘Heaven is my Motorbike’ 🎵 And when I see it in the morning light, / All chromy, chabba, it is pure delight [DSAE].
1987		Scope 6 Nov. 34: I’ve just come to visit the outside world for a while [...] Just to tell my gabbas I’m still in circulation [DSAE].
1992		Scope 13 Nov. 36: A greaser from Queenstown [...] He glanced at his mates, all gabbas [...] and adjusted his leather jacket [DSAE].