South Africa has had great success in a variety of sports including rugby union, cricket, golf and swimming.

The Rugby Union team known as the Springboks or AmaBokoboko in Zulu, are heavyweights in the world of international rugby. In 1995, South Africa hosted the IRB Rugby World Cup. They played exceptionally well in the tournament and by 24 June 1995, they had made it to the final, where they defeated New Zealand to become the world champions. Nelson Mandela was present, in a Springbok jersey, to hand over the trophy to captain Francois Pienaar.

The Proteas, South Africa's national cricket team, have a history dating back to 1889. They are considered one of the best one-day international (ODI) teams in the world. On 12 March, 2006 South Africa played Australia in what is considered to be one of the greatest ODI's ever contested. The Proteas won the game by four runs, with just one ball to spare. Previously, no team had ever scored more than 400 runs in an ODI, and on this day, that record was broken, twice.

Beside the most popular sports, South Africa has also produced other noteworthy athletic personalities. Gary Player is arguably one of the greatest golfers of all time, winning nine major championships, and Penny Heynes became the first woman in the history of the Olympics to win the 100m and 200m breaststroke.

South Africahosted the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup and reported an incident-free event.