And here’s what their rivals had to say

Pitso Mosimane, Sundowns We need to humble ourselves and accept reality. [Kaizer] Chiefs are true champions. They had a good run in the first half of the season and made it difficult for us to catch them because they accumulated a lot of points. It’s difficult to compete with a team that doesn’t lose games. We tried to reduce the gap, from 15 points to seven, but they kept increasing it with crucial wins. And Stuart Baxter is a true gentleman and professional.

Steve Barker, AmaZulu You deserve to win the league title when you concede 12 goals after 27 matches. They have shown consistency over three seasons now, so they are a difficult team to play against. Once they get a lead, they are very difficult to break down. For me, they are a team that is focused professionally in their approach to every game. Their unbeaten run was their foundation to winning the league.

Gordon Igesund, SuperSport United I think I said it two months ago that no one would catch them [Chiefs]. When you enjoy the spell that they had and everyone is chasing but you continue to win, then you thoroughly deserve to win the championship. My congratulations to them and [coach] Stuart Baxter because they came under a lot of pressure despite only losing two games. I think they learnt their lesson from last year, when they had the title and gave it away.

Kostadin Papic, Polokwane City From the beginning they started very well, breaking the record held by Orlando Pirates of 18 matches [from the start of the season] without losing, which was a big achievement. We went to FNB Stadium to try and spoil the party, but we ended up enjoying the party. It’s good for a big team like Chiefs to win with three or four matches to go, because that means the rest of the teams will improve next season.

Gavin Hunt, Bidvest Wits They got such a good start, and we all got off to a bad start. And they kept the momentum, which sometimes takes you all the way. They have done very well to win the league. They were the best side and there’s no doubt about it. Once they went into the break without a loss, and if you go 17 or 18 games unbeaten, that is probably how you are going to win the league title.