The Proteas cruised to a five-wicket victory in the first of three ODIs against Zimbabwe in Kimberley on Sunday.
After winning the toss, captain JP Duminy sent in their visitors to bat first, putting Zimbabwe under pressure from the start.
Opener Solomon Mire was first to go when he was caught by Reeza Hendricks off the bowling of Lungi Ngidi.
At 62/6, Zimbabwe looked like they were set for an embarrassing total, but a decent knock of 27 lower down the order by Elton Chigumbura saw them reach 117 all out.
Speedster Ngidi did the most damage for the South Africans, ending with bowling figures of 3/19 in 8.1 overs, with Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukhwayo and Imraan Tahir all bagging two wickets apiece.
Chasing only 118 for the win, SA made life difficult for themselves after losing opener Dean Elgar, in for Hashim Amla, for just two runs.
Hometown hero Hendricks was next to go with his score on five before Aiden Markram (27) and Christiaan Jonker (6) lost their wickets.
At 58/4, the game was in the balance, but Duminy and wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen (44) then joined forces to take the game away from the visitors with a partnership of 38 runs before the latter departed.
Duminy (16*) and Wiaan Mulder (14*) then guided coach Ottis Gibson’s team home with five wickets in the bank.