Manning Rangers found themselves unable to retain their title as they slipped to fifth place in the final standings, some 11 points behind eventual champions
Mamelodi Sundowns, who won the first of what would be three successive Premiership titles.
Kaizer Chiefs finished in the runners-up spot for the second successive season after finishing five points behind the brilliant
Brazilians. The Pretoria giants based their success on a rock-solid defence – just 25 goals conceded in 34 matches – and they were immensely difficult to beat, suffering just four defeats the whole season. The
Brazilians racked up 68 points, five more than Chiefs could manage. While it was déjà vu for the
Amakhosi in finishing second, the same could be said for
Orlando Pirates in third. The
Buccaneers picked up 57 points in the season, the same as
Cape Town Spurs and reigning champions Manning Rangers, but their superior goal difference at least saw them end in the top three.
Bush Bucks,
Jomo Cosmos and
Wits University rounded off the top eight teams.
Moroka Swallows and
Bloemfontein Celtic again finished in mid-table, while a fierce relegation battle almost saw the likes of
SuperSport United,
AmaZulu and
Santos suffer the drop. In a tense relegation battle that raged into the final day of the season, it was newly promoted
African Wanderers and
Real Rovers - who had managed to avoid the drop by a single point last season - that suffered the ignominy of relegation from the Premiership. They each finished on 31 points, just two adrift of Santos and AmaZulu in 16th and 15th place respectively. Heading into the penultimate round of matches Santos had found themselves rooted to the bottom of the table on 27 points, 3 points adrift of Real Rovers and safety. Santos managed to string together two straight wins to end the season with a 1-0 away win against Wits University and crucially, a 2-1 home victory over fellow relegation strugglers African Wanderers on the final day. Before losing to Santos on the final day, African Wanderers had managed to hold
Soweto giants Orlando Pirates to a goalless draw, leaving them confident of securing the result required against Santos to ensure their status as a Premiership club. In the meantime, Real Rovers, who had found themselves safe with two games to go, suffered two straight defeats, which coupled with Santos' two victories confirmed their relegation. Relegation would prove to have a disastrous effect on Real Rovers as they would not return and ultimately the club would cease operations at the conclusion of the 2000-01 season. ==Final table==