The 1996–97 National First Division was the 1st season of the second tier of South African soccer since the reorganisation in 1996.
It consisted of 76 clubs in four streams; Northern, Southern, Western Cape and Natal/Eastern Cape, with the winners being Black Leopards, (Northern), Tembisa Classic (Southern), Santos (Western Cape) and African Wanderers (Natal/Eastern Cape) respectively.[1][2][3]
At the end of the season, the division was reduced to two stream of 20 teams each.[1]