 | |
| Founded | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Country |  South Africa |
| Confederation | CAF |
| Divisions | 9 |
| Number of teams | 144 |
| Level on pyramid | 3 |
| Promotion to | National First Division |
| Relegation to | U21 Hollywoodbets Regional League |
| Domestic cup(s) | Nedbank Cup |
| Current champions | Highbury F.C. |
| Most championships | Roses United |
| Website | www |
| Current: 2024–25 SAFA Second Division | |
The SAFA Second Division (known as the ABC Motsepe League for sponsorship reasons, and previously the Vodacom League between 1998 and 2012, was founded in 1998 as the overall third tier of South African football. The competition is regulated by SAFA, and until 2012 had been sponsored by mobile telecommunications company Vodacom.
It features 144 teams in total, divided into 9 divisions, borders decided by the 9 geo-political provinces of South Africa: Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu Natal, Northern Cape, Western Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West. Each provincial division contains 16 teams. The winner of each provincial division qualifies for the annual promotional playoffs, where the winners of two streams are promoted to the National First Division. In each province, the two lowest-ranked teams by the end of the season, are relegated to the fourth tier U21 SAB Regional League, which in return will promote two playoff winners from the Regional Championships.
All clubs in South Africa also are allowed to compete with youth teams (U19/U21) and/or a reserve team in a lower SAFA league. If a club opt to field such teams, the U19 teams will start out at the fifth level in the U19 National League, while U21 teams or reserve teams will start out at the fourth level in the U21 SAB Regional League. If any U19 team win promotion for U21 SAB Regional League or SAFA Second Division, this promotion is fully accepted. No club are entitled to field two teams at the same level, and rule 4.6.4 of the SAFA regulations states that if the mother club play in the National First Division or Premier Soccer League, then the highest level these additional Youth/Reserve teams are allowed to compete will be the SAFA Second Division. In such cases, where a non-promotable team manage to win their regional division, the ticket for the promotional playoffs will instead be handed over to the second-best team in the division.[1]
In March 2014, the Motsepe Foundation signed a five-year deal for the naming rights of the competition worth 40 million ZAR. Patrice Motsepe named the competition in honour of his late father, Augustine Butana Chaane Motsepe.[2] The sponsorship was renewed for five years in 2018.[3]
- ^ SAFA. "Rules and Regulations" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-07-07.
- ^ "Motsepe Foundation sponsor Second Division". SuperSport. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
- ^ Laduma, Soccer. "SAFA and Motsepe Foundation renew ABC Mostepe League partnership". Soccer Laduma. Retrieved 2023-07-07.