| Organising body | Premier Soccer League |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996; 29 years ago (1996) |
| Country | South Africa |
| Confederation | CAF |
| Number of clubs | 16 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Motsepe Foundation Championship |
| Domestic cups | |
| League cup | Carling Knockout Cup |
| International cups | |
| Current champions | Mamelodi Sundowns (15th title) (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Mamelodi Sundowns (15 titles) |
| Top scorer |  Peter Shalulile (130 goals) |
| Broadcaster(s) | |
| Website | PSL.co.za |
| Current:2025–26 South African Premiership | |
TheSouth African Premiership, also known as theBetway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as thePSL after its governing body,[1] is a professionalsoccer league inSouth Africa and the highest level of theSouth African soccer league system. It has been organised since 1996.
The2024–25 season started on 14 September 2024,Mamelodi Sundowns successfully defended the title in 2025 which they've held continuously since the2017–18 season.
The league was founded in 1996 after an agreement between theNational Soccer League and the remnants of theNational Professional Soccer League. The former name still exists today for legal purposes, with thePremier Soccer League being thetrade name of the new league administrator.[2]
The league was reduced from 18 to 16 teams after the end of the 2001–02 season to avoid fixture congestion, causing the disbandment of two teams;Ria Stars andFree State Stars, though the latter was reformed and competing as of the 2020–21 season. In 2004, a match-fixing scandal rocked the soccer landscape in South Africa. An investigation codenamed "Operation Dribble" was launched by thepolice system of South Africa police in June 2004. More than 40 arrests were made, ranging from club bosses to match commissioners, referees and their assistants.Kaizer Chiefs successfully defended their league title in 2005 after they won the prestigious trophy in 2004 for the first time in a decade. The 2005–06 season sawMamelodi Sundowns capturing the title for a fourth time. Since the 2017–18 season, they have dominated the league, winning seven consecutive titles.
In 2007, the PSL signed a television deal withSuperSport worth R 1.6 billion, which was the biggest sporting deal in the history of the country and ranked the league into the top 15 in the world in terms of commercial broadcast deals. In the same year,ABSA replacedCastle Lager as the title sponsor, with the latter having sponsored the league since its inception.SuperSport United won 3 league titles in a row between 2008 and 2010.
As of 2025, the league is rated third in Africa according to theCAF 5-year ranking system.
For the 2018–19 season, the PSL gives each club a monthly grant of R 2 million, with funds coming from the television broadcasting rights and national sponsorships, with the league champion earning R 10 million.
In 2019, ABSA increased their sponsorship deal to the PSL to R 39.9 million,[3] which meant that the league winners would secure R 15 million. ABSA would however announce its cancellation of its sponsorship with the PSL a year later on 4 June 2020.[4]
On 24 September 2020,DStv were announced as the new sponsor, with the league being rebranded as theDStv Premiership.[5][6] MultiChoice also announced thatShowmax would replaceDStv as thejerseysponsor of SuperSport United F.C. so the latter would be independent to sponsor the league outright.[5]
On the 24th of July 2024, it was announced thatBetway would be sponsoring the league, withDStv's contract ending a year early due toMultiChoice's financial troubles. This is one of the biggest sponsorships in South African football history worth R900-Million for the term of 3 years.[7]
Trevor Phillips: 1996–1998
Joe Ndlela: 1998–2000Robin Petersen: 2000–2001 (resigned)Trevor Phillips: 2002–2007
Kjetil Siem: 2007–2011Zola Majavu: 2011 (resigned)Stanley Matthews: 2012 (resigned)Cambridge Mokanyane: 2013 (acting)Brand de Villers: 2013–2015Mato Madlala: 2016 – present (acting)The association ranking for the2025–26 CAF Champions League and the2025–26 CAF Confederation Cup will be based on results from each CAF club competition from 2020–21 to the 2024–25 season.
| Rank | Association | 2020–21 (× 1) | 2021–22 (× 2) | 2022–23 (× 3) | 2023–24 (× 4) | 2024–25 (× 5) | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | Mvt | CL | CC | CL | CC | CL | CC | CL | CC | CL | CC | ||
| 1 | 1 |  — |  Egypt | 8 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 2.5 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 190.5 |
| 2 | 2 | — |  Morocco | 4 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 142 |
| 3 | 4 |  +1 | South Africa | 8 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1.5 | 9 | 3 | 131 |
| 4 | 3 |  -1 |  Algeria | 6 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 130 |
| 5 | 6 | +1 |  Tanzania | 3 | 0.5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 82.5 |
| 6 | 5 | -1 |  Tunisia | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0.5 | 82.5 |
| 7 | 8 | +1 |  Angola | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1.5 | 2 | 2 | 55 |
| 8 | 7 | -1 |  DR Congo | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 |
| 9 | 9 | — |  Sudan | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 41 |
| 10 | 11 | +1 |  Ivory Coast | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 38 |
| 11 | 10 | -1 |  Libya | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 12 | 12 | — |  Nigeria | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
The league has hadtitle sponsorships since its inception. Like theEFL League One and thePremier League divisions in England, the league takes its title sponsor's name to determine its official common name:
As ofthe 2024–25 season, the league is composed of 16 teams competing from August to May each season, similar to the format of mostEuropean football leagues. Each team plays the other teams twice in adouble round-robin format using thethree points for a win system.
At the conclusion of each season, the champion and runner-up of the Premiership qualify for theCAF Champions League, while the 3rd-place team and theNedbank Cup champions qualify for theCAF Confederation Cup. The bottom team in the league is automatically relegated and replaced by the winner of the Motsepe Foundation Championship, whiles the team finishing immediately above the bottom team enters a mini-league playoff series with the 2nd and 3rd-placed league-finished teams of theNational First Division, with the playoff winners earning their place in the Premiership for the following season.
The league's broadcaster isSuperSport, who in turn sub-leases the broadcasting rights to theSABC, so as to broadcast some matches on public television in South Africa. SuperSport was awarded an initial $277 million 5-year broadcast/TV rights deal in 2007 by thePremier Soccer League to help commercialize the league globally beyond South Africa.[8] matches on sunset times between Tuesdays and Fridays and on weekends whereas the SABC telecast matches played on Wednesday nights and on weekends.
Since 2016, as SuperSport is a brand owned bythe MultiChoice Group, the league is available to watch live andon demand via their specified services;the DStv App (formerlyDStv Mobile andDStv Now) andShowmax Pro. Both are accessible via the DStv website forPC andMac and asmobile apps onAndroid andiOS/iPadOS formobile phones,tablets andSmart TVs.
| Manager(s) | Club(s) | Win(s) | Winning year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitso Mosimane | Mamelodi Sundowns (5) | 5 | 2013–14,2015–16,2017–18,2018–19,2019–20 |
 Ted Dumitru | Mamelodi Sundowns (2),Kaizer Chiefs (2) | 4 | 1997–98,1998–99,2003–04,2004–05 |
| Gavin Hunt | SuperSport United (3),Bidvest Wits | 4 | 2007–08,2008–09,2009–10,2016–17 |
| Gordon Igesund | Manning Rangers,Orlando Pirates,Santos,Mamelodi Sundowns | 4 | 1996–97,2000–01,2001–02,2006–07 |
| Rhulani Mokwena | Mamelodi Sundowns (4) | 4 | 2020–21,2021–22,2022–23,2023–24 |
 Stuart Baxter | Kaizer Chiefs (2) | 2 | 2012–13,2014–15 |
| Manqoba Mngqithi | Mamelodi Sundowns (2) | 2 | 2020–21,2021–22 |
Gordon Igesund is the only manager to have won the league with 4 clubs;Manning Rangers 1996-97,Orlando Pirates 2000-01,Santos 2001-02,Mamelodi Sundowns 2006-07.Rulani Mokwena become the only manager to have retained the league title 4 times in a row (4)Mamelodi Sundowns 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023-24; breaking previous record ofGavin Hunt andPitso Mosimane of the managers that have retained the title the most times; (3)SuperSport United 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, (3)Mamelodi Sundowns 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 respectively.Ted Dumitru having won the most titles, 4.As of the2025–26 season.
| Club | Number of seasons in Premiership | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Kaizer Chiefs | 30 | all |
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 30 | all |
| Orlando Pirates | 30 | all |
| SuperSport United | 29 | all |
| Lamontville Golden Arrows | 24 | 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26 |
| Moroka Swallows | 23 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24 |
| Bidvest Wits | 23 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 |
| Bloemfontein Celtic | 22 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 |
| AmaZulu | 22 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003–04,[note 1] 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26 |
| Cape Town Spurs/Ajax Cape Town[note 2] | 22 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2023–24 |
| Free State Stars | 19 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99,[note 3] 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 |
| Maritzburg United / Durban City | 17 | 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2025–26 |
| Jomo Cosmos | 15 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2015–16 |
| Santos | 15 | 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 |
| Platinum Stars | 14 | 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07,[note 4] 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 |
| Chippa United | 13 | 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26 |
| Black Leopards | 11 | 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2019–20, 2020–21 |
| Polokwane City | 10 | 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26 |
| Bush Bucks | 9 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06 |
| Cape Town City | 9 | 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25 |
| Manning Rangers | 9 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05 |
| Hellenic | 8 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 |
| Stellenbosch | 7 | 2019-20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26 |
| Baroka | 6 | 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 |
| Mpumalanga Black Aces | 6 | 1996–97,[note 5] 2009–10, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 |
| TS Galaxy | 6 | 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26 |
| Dynamos | 5 | 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06 |
| Sekhukhune United F.C. | 5 | 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26 |
| African Wanderers | 4 | 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03 |
| Tembisa Classic | 4 | 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06 |
| Marumo Gallants | 4 | 2021–22, 2022–23, 2024–25, 2025–26 |
| Richards Bay | 4 | 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26 |
| Royal AM | 4 | 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25 |
| University of Pretoria | 4 | 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 |
| Highlands Park | 3 | 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20 |
| Vaal Professionals | 3 | 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99 |
| Real Rovers | 2 | 1996–97, 1997–98 |
| Ria Stars | 2 | 2000–01, 2001–02 |
| Thanda Royal Zulu | 2 | 2007–08, 2008–09 |
| Bay United | 1 | 2008–09 |
| Benoni Premier United | 1 | 2006–07 |
| Magesi | 2 | 2024–25, 2025–26 |
| Michau Warriors | 1 | 1996–97 |
| Mother City | 1 | 1999–2000 |
| Orbit College | 1 | 2025–26 |
| Seven Stars | 1 | 1998–99[note 2] |
| Siwelele | 1 | 2025–26 |
| Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila | 1 | 2020–21 |
| Vasco da Gama | 1 | 2010–11 |
Defunct teams: †.
NB: list includes all players who have scored at least 100 goals in the PSL era. Also includes cup competitions.
Source:[15]
Bold entries are participating in the current season.
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