The Buccaneers are currently second in standings, but "Mahoota" believes that means nothing as they are trail leaders Mamelodi Sundowns by an embarrassing 18 points.
Tonight the Buccaneers host Lamontville Golden Arrows 'Es'godini' as they look to close the gap between themselves and the defending champions.
"Pirates are second and are leading the other log," Mashego tells KickOff.
"There are two logs, the Sundowns log and the best of the rest in the DStv Premiership.
"Pirates are in second position, but it means nothing. They are trailing Sundowns by 18 points. It just goes to show the level Pirates should be at.
"They are nowhere near the level that they are supposed to be at.
"So I think they are competing for the other DStv Premiership race for second, not the real title race."
Meanwhile, Pirates interim coach Mandla Ncikazi came in for criticism after claiming that the DStv Premiership is a bigger tournament than the continental competition in standard.
"I wouldn't know, and I wouldn't like to dwell too much on issues between players and coaches," Mashego added.
"Coaches may have their own opinion, and players sometimes do things in training and behind closed doors that we don't see as football fans.
"I think the coach is in the perfect position to judge which players he wants and what he wants to achieve.
"But I wouldn't think Mhango will have a problem with the coach at Pirates. I think with what he has done at the Afcon I think he deserves to wear the Pirates jersey again.
"The Afcon is a tournament that features world-class players.
"If the DStv Premiership was, in fact, bigger than the Afcon, we would have Zimbabwe winning that tournament, and South Africa qualifying.
"I think it's unfair to compare the Afcon with the South African league."
Kick-off at Orlando Stadium is at 19:30.