Major World Sport Events in South Africa.

1995  Rugby World Cup

1996 African Nations Cup 

1996 World Cup of Golf

1998 World Cup of Athletics

2003 Cricket World Cup

2003 President's Cup

2005-2008 Women's World Cup of Golf

2006 Paralympic Swimming World Championships

2007 World Twenty20 Championships

2009 Fifa Confederations Cup

2009 ICC Champions Trophy

2010 World Cup 

1995 Rugby World Cup

Since 1995, when Nelson Mandela handed the William Webb Ellis Trophy to Springbok captain Francois Pienaar after a pulsating Rugby World Cup final in Johannesburg, South Africa has shown itself capable not only of hosting the really big sporting events, but of making really big successes of them.

1996 African Cup of Nations

A year later, Mandela was on hand once more to present the African Cup of Nations trophy to South Africa's soccer team, Bafana Bafana. As with the Rugby World Cup, the continent's premier footballing event went off smoothly in South Africa, with full houses and impressively well-behaved supporters – something not always associated with international soccer matches!

1996 World Cup of Golf

In the same year, Cape Town's Erinvale Golf Club played host to the World Cup of Golf. Ernie Els and Wayne Westner took full advantage of the familiar conditions and home crowd support to decimate the opposition, winning the event by a record 18 shots.

1998 World Cup of Athletics

Two years later, the world's top athletes were in Johannesburg for the World Cup of Athletics. Despite unusually poor weather for South Africa's business capital, the event went off without a hitch, with local athletes playing a vital role in helping Africa to victory in the team competition.

2003 Cricket World Cup

For once, in 2003, home advantage didn't help the South African team, as an under-performing Proteas side failed to progress to the knockout stage of cricket's showcase tournament. The event was well supported and impeccably run, with day-night matches becoming a staple of the event for the first time. In a high-scoring final in Johannesburg, Australia defended the title they had won four years previously in England.

2003 President's Cup

The 2003 President's Cup, held at Fancourt near George in the Western Cape, was rated one of the best-organised – and most exciting – golfing events ever. The four-day shootout between the United States and International team culminated in a sudden-death playoff between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els that went through three holes before fading light finally halted play. In a first for the competition, team captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player agreed to share the trophy – even though, as defending champions, the USA should have kept it. Afterwards, Nicklaus said it was "the most unbelievable event the game of golf has ever seen."

2005-2008 Women's World Cup of Golf

Fancourt was also home to the inaugural Women's World Cup of Golf in 2005, which was won by Japan. In 2006 the event moved to the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City, home of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, one of golf's richest tournaments. Sweden, led by Annika Sorenstam, took the title.

In 2007, at the same venue, first-timers Paraguay stunned the 21 other competing countries to win by seven strokes. Paraguay's Julieta Granada commented afterwards: "The crowds were awesome ... They were cheering us on and they liked our outfits. It was a lot of fun. And the baboons … I liked the baboons. They are all my friends."

In 2008, the Philippines held off South Korea to win the title by two strokes.

2006 Paralympic Swimming World Championships

In 2006, Durban hosted the fourth International Paralympic Committee Swimming World Championships. South Africa's Natalie du Toit excelled, winning six gold medals, including a third place overall – against both male and female opposition – in the five-kilometre open water swim.

2007 World Twenty20 Championships

South Africa hosted cricket's inaugural Twenty20 World Championships with style to match its efficiency, creating a vibe and energy that many felt was lacking at the 2007 World Cup (for the longer, 50-overs-a-side version of the game) in the West Indies earlier in the year. South Africa has one of the more colourful national flags, and the abiding memory of the event will be one of colour, with fans from far and wide becoming part of the spectacle as sports and entertainment collided in a wildly successful first edition of the shortest form of international cricket.

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup

South Africa hosted the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup – a dress rehearsal for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ – with great success. The event was enthusiastically supported by colourful, pulsating crowds, and the football itself was hugely entertaining.

Bafana Bafana made it to the semi-finals, where they were beaten 1-0 by Brazil, who scored an 87th minute winner. The USA shocked European champions Spain 2-0 to reach the final.

In the playoff for third and fourth, Spain edged South Africa 3-2 after extra time in a humdinger, while Brazil went on to claim the title with a 3-2 win over the USA, having fought back from 2-0 down at the break.

2009 ICC Champions Trophy

Like the IPL, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy was not originally scheduled for South Africa. The country was chosen to host the event following a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan national team in Pakistan in March. Sri Lanka was originally selected as the new venue, but when doubts were expressed about the weather conditions in the island nation in September-October, it was decided to move it to South Africa.

In the final, played at SuperSport Park in Centurion on 5 October, Australia ended the run of tournament giant-killers New Zealand to claim the title. The elite, eight-nation, 50-overs-a-side competition went off without a glitch, in the process providing an excellent yardstick for the International Cricket Council to measure the "longer" limited-overs version of the game against its upstart rival, Twenty20 cricket.