The CSA competitions are predominantly contested by South African provincial teams, the number of which has been fixed at thirteen since the 2007–08 season.

Prior to the introduction of the CSA competitions, the South African provincial teams competed in the Sunfoil Series (better known as the Currie Cup) and the domestic one-day tournament (known under various names).

It featured representative teams from other African countries, including Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe in addition to the South African provincial sides.

The Africa T20 was first held in September to October 2015 at the start of the South African season, and was followed by the CSA Provincial T20 Challenge later in the year.

[39] From the 2015–16 season, the CSA Challenge League was not played, leaving the Africa T20 Cup as the only provincial level T20 tournament in the country.