For eight years, the only real question in South African football was how Mamelodi Sundowns would win it. Not whether. How.
Then Orlando Pirates went and answered a different question entirely.
The Betway Premiership 2026/27 season kicks off on Saturday 1 August with something this league has not had in nearly a decade: a genuinely open top of the table. Pirates are champions for the first time since 2011/12. Sundowns lost a league and won a continent in the same fortnight. Kaizer Chiefs have a new French coach who has already told everyone he is not ready to challenge. Two clubs are in the top flight for the first time in their history.
Sixteen clubs. One honest paragraph each. And a predicted table we are prepared to be judged on in May.
What actually happened last season, in case you need reminding
Pirates won it with 69 points from 30 matches, 21 wins, and a title race that went to the final day. It was their fifth league championship and it ended a fourteen-year wait. Sundowns finished second. Chiefs took third and with it a CAF Confederation Cup place, joined there by Durban City as Nedbank Cup winners.
At the bottom, Orbit College went down automatically. Magesi finished fifteenth, went into the promotion and relegation mini-league, and lost their place to Milford on the last day of it.
And Sundowns, in the same month they surrendered a league title, won the CAF Champions League for the second time, beating AS FAR of Morocco 2-1 on aggregate in Rabat in late May. That is the context nobody should skip. The team that “failed” last season is the champion of Africa.
The clubs
Orlando Pirates
Champions, and immediately rebuilding. Nine confirmed departures before a ball was kicked, including Relebohile Mofokeng to Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, Tshegofatso Mabasa, Sipho Mbule, Bandile Shandu and Thabiso Lebitso. Oswin Appollis has reportedly had a substantial offer from Porto. Abdeslam Ouaddou has promoted youth in Simphiwe Masilela, Cristian Derbyshire and Mpho Padime and spoken warmly about what the group has built. The question: can a champion side lose its most saleable player and eight others, have a compressed pre-season, and still defend?
Mamelodi Sundowns
Champions of Africa, runners-up at home, and grieving. Their opener against Marumo Gallants has been postponed after the death of midfielder Jayden Adams, who was 25 and had played three matches for Bafana Bafana at the World Cup weeks earlier. Miguel Cardoso has added Antonio van Wyk and Siyanda Ndlovu, and the fixture list ahead includes a CAF Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. The question: does a squad this deep treat losing the league as an aberration or a warning?
Kaizer Chiefs
Third place, a Confederation Cup return, and yet another reset. Fernando Da Cruz is in, the Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef partnership is out, and both of those men are now coaching rival clubs. Thabo Moloisane, Renaldo Leaner and Adolf Mtasingwa have arrived, Glody Lilepo has gone to Al Ahly Benghazi. Da Cruz has been unusually candid, saying the squad still needs a striker, wingers and an attacking midfielder before it can talk about silverware. The question: is honesty from a Chiefs coach in July a good sign or a very familiar one?
Stellenbosch FC
Steve Barker remains the most underrated coach in the country and Stellenbosch remain the club that develops a player, sells him, and finishes higher than the club that bought him. Their model has survived multiple cycles of that now. The question: how many more times can they replace their best player and not slip?
Sekhukhune United
Cedric Kaze arrives from the Chiefs technical team and inherits a side that has quietly become hard to beat. They open against Durban City and Khalil Ben Youssef, his former co-coach, which is the sort of fixture that writes itself. The question: does Kaze have a philosophy of his own, away from Naturena?
Durban City
Second season in the top flight and already carrying silverware, having won the Nedbank Cup and a Confederation Cup place with it. Gavin Hunt has gone, Khalil Ben Youssef is in. The question: can a promoted club handle continental football and a coaching change in the same year?
AmaZulu
Arthur Zwane’s second season in Durban. Usuthu have spent years being the team that finishes eighth and feels like it should finish fifth. They open away at Stellenbosch, which will tell us something quickly. The question: is Zwane building something or maintaining something?
Golden Arrows
Manqoba Mngqithi is one of the most decorated coaches in the league’s history and he is at a club with a fraction of the resources he used to command. Abafana Bes’thende have always punched above their budget. Now they have a title-winning coach to do it with. The question: what does Mngqithi do with a small budget and no pressure?
TS Galaxy
Adnan Beganovic has made Galaxy consistently awkward, and the Rockets have a habit of taking points off the big three. They have never quite converted that into a top-four push. The question: is there a ceiling here, or just a squad that needs three more players?
Siwelele FC
Still the strangest story in the league. Siwelele bought SuperSport United’s status, meaning one of the most established clubs in the country simply stopped existing as a top-flight entity. Lehlohonolo Seema is in charge and the club has a Free State identity to build from scratch. The question: how do you construct a supporter base in a single season?
Chippa United
Sinethemba Badela got the job and the Chilli Boys did what they always do, which is survive in a way that makes no statistical sense. The question: is Badela the first Chippa coach in years who gets to finish a season?
Richards Bay FC
The Natal Rich Boyz have made themselves a proper Premiership club rather than a promoted one, and KwaZulu-Natal now has five top-flight teams, more than any other province. The question: with Milford now up the road, does the KZN market get too crowded?
Polokwane City
Rise and Shine lost Phuti Mohafe to Marumo Gallants and spent a chunk of the off-season without a head coach. Confirm the appointment before you write anything about their plans. The question: how much does a late coaching appointment cost a mid-table club?
Marumo Gallants
The biggest overhaul in the league. Fourteenth last season, so Phuti Mohafe has come in and signed thirteen new players, with president Abram Sello suggesting more could follow. The club has also relocated, basing itself in Pretoria and playing home matches at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg after two years in Bloemfontein, citing low attendances and rising costs. The question: can a squad with thirteen new faces and a new home city build any kind of identity by December?
Kruger United
The Village Boys. Formed in 2023 when businessmen Bongani Wati and Basil Khoza bought Caroline FC’s status, promoted out of the ABC Motsepe League in 2024, and champions of the Motsepe Foundation Championship last season after beating Black Leopards 3-1. Based in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, playing at Kanyamazane Stadium. They have signed at least fourteen players including Fiacre Ntwari on loan from Chiefs, and they open at home against Chiefs on Saturday night. The question: three promotions in three years, and now this?
Milford FC
The other first-timers, and the first National First Division club to come up through the play-offs in the post-Covid era. Based in Richards Bay. They got there with a 1-1 draw against Magesi in Polokwane, Menzi Chili scoring the equaliser that mattered, having also reached a Nedbank Cup semi-final along the way. Dr Xanti Pupuma is expected to remain in charge. Their reward is Orlando Pirates away, first match, first weekend. The question: what does a club with no top-flight history do with a season nobody expects them to survive?
Opening weekend
| Date | Time | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Sat 1 Aug | 15:30 | Orlando Pirates vs Milford FC |
| Sat 1 Aug | 15:30 | Golden Arrows vs Chippa United |
| Sat 1 Aug | 15:30 | Stellenbosch FC vs AmaZulu |
| Sat 1 Aug | 18:00 | Sekhukhune United vs Durban City |
| Sat 1 Aug | 20:15 | Kruger United vs Kaizer Chiefs |
| Sun 2 Aug | 15:30 | Richards Bay vs Polokwane City |
| Sun 2 Aug | 18:00 | Siwelele FC vs TS Galaxy |
| Postponed | Mamelodi Sundowns vs Marumo Gallants |
Sekhukhune vs Durban City is at New Peter Mokaba Stadium. The Sundowns fixture has been postponed with the league’s approval following Jayden Adams’ death and the delayed start to their pre-season. No new date has been announced.
Our predicted Betway Premiership 2026/27 table
Opinion. This is a call, not a projection, and you are welcome to hold it against us in May.
| Pos | Club | Reasoning in one line |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mamelodi Sundowns | The deepest squad in the country, now genuinely angry. |
| 2 | Orlando Pirates | Champions, but nine out and a short pre-season is a real tax. |
| 3 | Kaizer Chiefs | A new coach who knows what is missing usually finds some of it. |
| 4 | Stellenbosch FC | Because they always are, and Barker is still there. |
| 5 | Sekhukhune United | Kaze inherits the best-organised mid-table side in the league. |
| 6 | Golden Arrows | Mngqithi at a club with nothing to lose is a dangerous combination. |
| 7 | Durban City | Continental football will cost them league points. Worth it. |
| 8 | AmaZulu | The most persistent eighth-place team in South African football. |
| 9 | TS Galaxy | Awkward for everyone, decisive against nobody. |
| 10 | Marumo Gallants | Thirteen new players will take until Christmas to gel. |
| 11 | Richards Bay | Solid, unspectacular, safe by March. |
| 12 | Siwelele FC | Still building an identity as well as a team. |
| 13 | Kruger United | Fourteen signings and a proper plan. We think they stay up. |
| 14 | Chippa United | As always. |
| 15 | Polokwane City | The late coaching appointment is the reason. |
| 16 | Milford FC | The hardest job in the league, with the smallest budget. |
Two things we would love to be wrong about: Milford at the bottom, and Kruger staying up. Both of those clubs deserve better than the odds they have.
The bigger picture
There is more at stake this season than a trophy. Pirates and Sundowns are in the CAF Champions League. Chiefs and Durban City are in the Confederation Cup. Sundowns have a CAF Super Cup against USM Alger and a FIFA Intercontinental Cup campaign, which means a domestic season played around a global calendar.
And behind all of it, the national team. Bafana Bafana begin AFCON 2027 qualifying on 21 September in a group with Guinea, Kenya and Eritrea, and because Kenya qualify automatically as co-hosts, there is effectively one place available for the other three. Every squad selection Hugo Broos makes between now and then comes out of these sixteen clubs.
Season 31. Nothing settled. Let’s go.
Frequently asked questions
When does the Betway Premiership 2026/27 season start?
Saturday 1 August 2026. Orlando Pirates host Milford FC at 15:30, and Kruger United host Kaizer Chiefs at 20:15 in the pick of the opening night.
Who are the defending Betway Premiership champions?
Orlando Pirates. They won the 2025/26 title with 69 points from 30 matches, their fifth league championship and their first since 2011/12, ending Mamelodi Sundowns’ run of eight consecutive titles.
Which teams were promoted to the Betway Premiership for 2026/27?
Kruger United, who won the Motsepe Foundation Championship, and Milford FC, who came through the promotion and relegation play-offs. Both are in the top flight for the first time in their history. Magesi and Orbit College went down.
How many teams are in the Betway Premiership?
Sixteen. Each plays 30 league matches, home and away against every other club.
Why was Mamelodi Sundowns vs Marumo Gallants postponed?
The league approved Sundowns’ request following the death of midfielder Jayden Adams and the resulting delay to the club’s pre-season preparations. No replacement date has been confirmed.