The competition was won by the Free State Cheetahs for the fifth time in their history; they beat the Blue Bulls 36–16 in the final played on 22 October 2016.
The competition was reduced to seven teams for 2017, resulting in the Boland Cavaliers and Eastern Province Kings being relegated to the 2017 Currie Cup First Division.
[1] In March 2017, the South African Rugby Union decided to reduce the competition to seven teams for 2017 Currie Cup Premier Division.
They were reformed with the help of their local municipal council, but with no coaches or players in place, their Round One match against Griquas was also postponed.
The biggest victory of the weekend came in the Saturday match, with the Free State Cheetahs beating Boland Cavaliers 44–16 in Wellington, also scoring five tries to one to go top of the log.
The Golden Lions started their title defense in style, with lock Lourens Erasmus scoring a try just 8.5 seconds into their match against the Pumas, a new Currie Cup record for the fastest-ever try.
The Sharks secured their third consecutive bonus-points victory against the Boland Cavaliers in Wellington, scoring six tries in a 41–20 win to leap-frog the Free State Cheetahs into top spot on the log.
A midweek match saw Griquas secure their third consecutive victory in the competition to move into third position on the log, while cementing the Eastern Province Kings' last place.
They scored five tries, with Fred Zeilinga successfully converting them all, while 20 points from the boot of Curwin Bosch was not enough for the Sharks, who dropped to second place.
The Free State Cheetahs became the first team to secure a semi-final berth after winning their sixth consecutive match, beating the Golden Lions 37–29 in Bloemfontein.
The Cheetahs had different try scorers for all five of their tries, while the Golden Lions relied on the boot of Jaco van der Walt, who kicked 16 of his side's points.
After two consecutive defeats, the Sharks returned to winning ways, securing the first whitewash of the season after beating bottom side Eastern Province Kings 53–0, scoring nine tries in the match.
While Griquas remained in the final semi-final position despite the defeat, fifth-placed Western Province closed the gap by beating the Pumas 31–23 in Cape Town.
Rayno Benjamin scored a hat-trick of tries in the match with Paul Schoeman getting a brace, as the Cheetahs ensured that they would top the log and have home advantage in the semifinal and possible final.
The biggest margin of victory came in the match between the Eastern Province Kings and the Golden Lions in Port Elizabeth, with the visitors winning 71–7.
Boland ran in four tries to lead 28–20 with 8 minutes to go, but Western Province scored a converted try and a 78th–minute penalty through fly-half Robert du Preez to secure the final semi-final spot in dramatic fashion, winning the match 30–28.
The final group match in the competition was a dead rubber; top side Free State Cheetahs outscored Griquas by 9 tries to 4 to win 63–26; scrum-half Shaun Venter got a brace, while fly-half Niel Marais contributed 17 points through one try and 6 conversions.
They scored six tries, with right winger Sergeal Petersen getting a hat-trick, while fly-half Niel Marais added 21 points, successfully kicking three conversions and five penalties in the match.
Blue Bulls fly-half Tian Schoeman replicated Marais' kicking record in his side's 36–30 victory over Western Province in the second semi-final, which ended in dramatic fashion as the Blue Bulls scored a try in the 78th minute through replacement scrum-half Ivan van Zyl – in his first appearance of the season – to overturn Western Province's lead.