ABC Motsepe League 2026/27: Every Promoted Team by Province
All 23 clubs promoted into the ABC Motsepe League for the 2026/27 season, listed province by province. Gauteng leads the intake with six, the Free State sends three.
The ABC Motsepe League welcomes 23 new clubs for the 2026/27 season, with every province represented among the sides promoted out of the SAB Regional Leagues. Gauteng contributes the largest intake with six clubs, while the Free State sends up three.
Promotion into the ABC Motsepe League is the third rung of the South African football pyramid, sitting directly below the Motsepe Foundation Championship. For the clubs listed below it is the first step onto the national ladder, and the winners of each provincial stream will contest the ABC Motsepe League national play-offs at the end of the season for a place in the professional ranks - the same route that took Hope FC and North West University into the Championship this year.
Every team promoted to the ABC Motsepe League for 2026/27
Gauteng
- Ben 10
- LESCO
- Spartans
- Boipatong
- Tembisa Destroyers
- Doornkop Students
Free State
- Elite Athletics
- Mkbadeli Heroes
- FC Harmony
Eastern Cape
- Prides AFC
- United FC
KwaZulu-Natal
- Dumehlezi
- MP Thwala All Stars
Limpopo
- ABC FC
- Phinnet City
Mpumalanga
- Phaphama
- Matsulu Chelsea
North West
- Mafikeng Rocks
- Wollies Soccer Academy
Northern Cape
- OSK Eagles
- Pampierstad Express
Western Cape
- Kayamandi
- Harambee
What promotion means
The ABC Motsepe League is run province by province, so each of these clubs will compete in its own provincial stream through the season. Provincial winners then meet in the national play-offs, where the top finishers earn promotion to the Motsepe Foundation Championship and professional football.
That path is a real one rather than a theoretical one. Hope FC were crowned 2025/26 ABC Motsepe League national champions and now sit in the Championship alongside North West University, both having come through the same play-off route these 23 clubs are now aiming for.
Diski Zone covers the ABC Motsepe League across all nine provinces. Follow every fixture, result and log position through the season.