SAFA Provincial Women's League

SAFA Provincial Women's League
Organising bodySAFA
Founded2009 (2009)
Country South Africa
Divisions18
Number of clubs144
Level on pyramid2
Promotion toSAFA Women's League
Relegation toSAFA Women's Regional League
Current championsDiepkloof Ladies (1st title)
(2025)
Most championshipsPalace Super Falcons (3 titles)
Broadcaster(s)SABC
Current: 2026 SAFA Provincial Women's League

The SAFA Provincial Women's League is the second-tier South African women's association football league. It is semi-professional, and operates as a provincial league, with two "streams" of 8–10 teams in each of South Africa's nine provinces (in some cases, multiple streams per province), and each province's champion then competing in a single-location national championship tournament.[1]

The championship's two finalists are then promoted to the (professional, first-tier) SAFA Women's League, while the bottom two teams in each province's standings are relegated to the SAFA Women's Regional League of their respective province.[2]

History

The SAFA Provincial Women's League was originally launched in 2009 as the Absa Women's League, in partnership with Absa Bank,[3][4] in order to improve the South African women's national team's international performances.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

The logo of the Provincial Women's League when it was sponsored by Sasol.

From the 2013 season the league sponsorship was granted to energy and chemical company Sasol Limited on a 4-year partnership and the league branded the Sasol League.[12][13] The sponsorship ended in 2024.[14][15]

Annual Champions

A list of champions and runners-ups:,[16] since its founding 12 different teams from 7 provinces have won the SAFA Pronvincial Women's League:

Year Champions Runners-up
ABSA Women's League
2009Detroit LadiesPalace Super Falcons
2010Palace Super Falcons Detroit Ladies
2011Palace Super FalconsBrazilian Ladies
2012Palace Super FalconsCape Town Roses
Sasol League
2013[17]Mamelodi Sundowns LadiesMa-Indies Ladies
2014[18]Cape Town RosesPalace Super Falcons
2015[19]Mamelodi Sundowns LadiesCape Town Roses
2016[20]Bloemfontein Celtics LadiesJVW
2017[21]Bloemfontein Celtics LadiesCape Town Roses
2018[22]Tshwane University of TechnologyDurban Ladies
2019[23]JVWMa-Indies Ladies
2020Cancelled due to the COVID-19

pandemic in South Africa

2021[24]Vasco da GamaCity Lads Ladies
2022[25]Copperbelt LadiesUniversity of Pretoria
2023[26]University of Fort HareLindelani Ladies
2024[27]EzemveloUniversity of Cape Town
SAFA Provincial Women's League
2025[28]Diepkloof LadiesRamatlaohle

Performance by province

Province Winners Runners-up Winner Runners-up
Gauteng 8 4
Western Cape 2 4
Free State 2 0
Limpopo 1 4
KwaZulu-Natal 1 2
Eastern Cape 1 1
Mpumalanga 1 1
  • Detroit Ladies
  • Detroit Ladies

References

  1. ↑ "Sasol and SAFA launch the 2023 Sasol League National Championship". South African Football Association. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Sasol League Regulations" (PDF). South African Football Association. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "Absa Women's League launched". SuperSport official website. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "Women's football league kicks off - Brand South Africa". Brandsouthafrica.com. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Absa launch Women's League". Kickoff.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Competition and Player Development : A comparison between South America and Germany" (PDF). Cies.ch. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  7. ↑ Cynthia Fabrizio Pelak. "Women and gender in South African soccer: a brief history" (PDF). History.msu.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Shehu, Jimoh (18 November 2017). Gender, Sport and Development in Africa: Cross-cultural Perspectives on Patterns of Representations and Marginalization. African Books Collective. ISBN 9782869783065. Retrieved 18 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Cornelissen, Scarlett; Grundlingh, Albert (13 September 2013). Sport Past and Present in South Africa: (Trans)forming the Nation. Routledge. ISBN 9781317988588. Retrieved 18 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Alegi, Peter (14 February 2010). African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World's Game. Ohio University Press. ISBN 9780896804722. Retrieved 18 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ "Safa planning to launch a national women's league". Goal.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  12. ↑ "SAFA Sasol Women's League - SAFA.net". South African Football Association. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "Sasol, SAFA pen four year deal to empower women's football |". www.sasol.com. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Strydom, Marc (7 September 2017). "Sasol renews its sponsorship of Banyana Banyana and Safa's Women's League for four years". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "Sasol extend women's football partnership with Safa". Sowetan. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "About the Sasol League". Sasol in Sport. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  17. ↑ DailyNews, Taung (1 December 2013). "Sundowns wins Sasol League Championship title". TaungDailyNews. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  18. ↑ Content, Print (18 December 2014). "Cape Town Roses crowned 2014 Sasol League National champions". Southern Courier. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  19. ↑ Phiri, Eric (15 December 2015). "Mamelodi Sundowns ladies crowned 2015 Sasol league National championship winners". STOKVEL TALK. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  20. ↑ "Bloemfontein Celtic crowned 2016 Sasol League National Champs - SAFA.net". 11 December 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  21. ↑ "Celtic defend their Sasol League National Championship title - SAFA.net". 9 December 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  22. ↑ AltronDev (10 December 2018). "Debutants TUT Ladies crowned 2018 Sasol League National Champions". Sasol In Sport. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  23. ↑ Ndumela, Mntungwa (8 December 2019). "JVW Crowned 2019 Sasol League National Champions". Sasol In Sport. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  24. ↑ "Vasco Da Gama crowned 2021 Sasol League National Champions - SAFA.net". 13 February 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  25. ↑ Kganakga, Tlamelo (24 October 2022). "Copperbelt Ladies Crowned Sasol League National Champs Winners". gsport4girls. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  26. ↑ "University of Fort Hare crowned 2023 Sasol League National Champions - SAFA.net". 22 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  27. ↑ "Ezemvelo WFC crowned 2024 Sasol League National Champions - SAFA.net". 20 October 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  28. ↑ CentreCircle (13 December 2025). "SAFA CEO applauds Diepkloof Ladies who were crowned 2025 SAFA Women's National Championship winners". Centre Circle. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
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