Kyalami · 3 March 1979
Gilles Villeneuve won the 1979 South African Grand Prix for Ferrari from 3rd on the grid, 3.42s ahead of Jody Scheckter. Clay Regazzoni gained the most places, from 22nd on the grid to 9th.
| Pos | Team | Points Breakdown | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ferrari Villeneuve 9 + Scheckter 6 | Villeneuve 9 + Scheckter 6 | 15 | |
| 2 | Team Lotus Andretti 3 + Reutemann 2 + Rebaque 0 | Andretti 3 + Reutemann 2 + Rebaque 0 | 5 | |
| 3 | Tyrrell Jarier 4 + Pironi 0 | Jarier 4 + Pironi 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Brabham-Alfa Romeo Lauda 1 + Piquet 0 | Lauda 1 + Piquet 0 | 1 | |
| 5 | Wolf Hunt 0 | Hunt 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Williams Regazzoni 0 + Jones 0 | Regazzoni 0 + Jones 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | McLaren Tambay 0 + Watson 0 | Tambay 0 + Watson 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Arrows Patrese 0 + Mass 0 | Patrese 0 + Mass 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Fittipaldi Fittipaldi 0 | Fittipaldi 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Renault Arnoux 0 + Jabouille 0 | Arnoux 0 + Jabouille 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | ATS Stuck 0 | Stuck 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Ligier Laffite 0 + Depailler 0 | Laffite 0 + Depailler 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Shadow de Angelis 0 + Lammers 0 | de Angelis 0 + Lammers 0 | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Race time / Gap | Laps | Stops | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari | Ferrari | 1:41:49.960 | 78 | — | 9 | |
| 2 | Jody Scheckter Ferrari | Ferrari | +3.420s | 78 | — | 6 | |
| 3 | Jean-Pierre Jarier Tyrrell | Tyrrell | +22.110s | 78 | — | 4 | |
| 4 | Mario Andretti Team Lotus | Team Lotus | +27.880s | 78 | — | 3 | |
| 5 | Carlos Reutemann Team Lotus | Team Lotus | +1:06.970 | 78 | — | 2 | |
| 6 | Niki Lauda Brabham-Alfa Romeo | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | +1 Lap | 77 | — | 1 | |
| 7 | Nelson Piquet Brabham-Alfa Romeo | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | +1 Lap | 77 | — | — | |
| 8 | James Hunt Wolf | Wolf | +1 Lap | 77 | — | — | |
| 9 | Clay Regazzoni Williams | Williams | +2 Laps | 76 | — | — | |
| 10 | Patrick Tambay McLaren | McLaren | +3 Laps | 75 | — | — | |
| 11 | Riccardo Patrese Arrows | Arrows | +3 Laps | 75 | — | — | |
| 12 | Jochen Mass Arrows | Arrows | +4 Laps | 74 | — | — | |
| 13 | Emerson Fittipaldi Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | +4 Laps | 74 | — | — | |
| DNF | Hector Rebaque Team Lotus | Team Lotus | DNF Engine | 71 | — | — | |
| DNF | René Arnoux Renault | Renault | DNF Tyre | 67 | — | — | |
| DNF | Alan Jones Williams | Williams | DNF Suspension | 63 | — | — | |
| DNF | John Watson McLaren | McLaren | DNF Ignition | 61 | — | — | |
| DNF | Hans-Joachim Stuck ATS | ATS | DNF Accident | 57 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jean-Pierre Jabouille Renault | Renault | DNF Engine | 47 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jacques Laffite Ligier | Ligier | DNF Accident | 45 | — | — | |
| DNF | Didier Pironi Tyrrell | Tyrrell | DNF Throttle | 25 | — | — | |
| DNF | Elio de Angelis Shadow | Shadow | DNF Accident | 16 | — | — | |
| DNF | Patrick Depailler Ligier | Ligier | DNF Accident | 4 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jan Lammers Shadow | Shadow | DNF Accident | 2 | — | — |