South Africa at the 1912 Summer Olympics

• Ken McArthur — Athletics, Men's Marathon
• Rudolph Lewis — Cycling, Men's Individual Time Trial
• Harold Kitson and Charles Winslow — Tennis, Men's doubles outdoor
• Charles Winslow — Tennis, Men's singles outdoor

• Christian Gitsham — Athletics, Men's Marathon
• Harold Kitson — Tennis Men's singles outdoor

A single swimmer competed for South Africa at the 1912 Games. It was the nation's debut in swimming. Godfrey competed in one event, placing fifth in his quarterfinal of the 400 metre freestyle and not advancing to the semifinals.

Ranks given for each swimmer are within the heat.

Men

Seven athletes represented South Africa. It was the nation's third appearance in both the sport and the Olympics. McArthur and Gitsham finished first and second, respectively, in the marathon to give South Africa its only athletics medals in 1912 as well as an Olympic record in the event with McArthur's mark. Richardson's Olympic record in the 10000 metres, set in the semifinals, was broken in the final; Richardson did not finish that race.

Ranks given are within that athlete's heat for running events.

Athlete	Events	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Christian Gitsham	Marathon	N/A				2:37:52.0
Ken McArthur	Marathon	N/A				2:36:54.8 OR
George Patching	100 m	?	2 Q	19.9	1 Q	11.0	4
	200 m	22.3	1 Q	did not finish		did not advance
	400 m	51.1	1 Q	50.5	3	did not advance
Reuben Povey	100 m	?	2 Q	?	2	did not advance
	200 m	?	2 Q	?	5	did not advance
Leonard Richardson	10000 m	N/A		32:30.3 OR	1	did not finish
	Marathon	N/A				did not start
	Ind. cross country	N/A				47:33.5	8
Arthur St. Norman	Marathon	N/A				did not finish
	10 km walk	N/A		50:17.9	2 Q	Disqualified
John Victor	800 m	?	3	did not advance
	1500 m	N/A		4:12.7	3	did not advance

A single cyclist represented South Africa. It was the second appearance of the nation in cycling. Rudolph Lewis won the gold medal, South Africa's first cycling medal.

Cyclist	Events	Final
		Result	Rank
Rudolph Lewis	Ind. time trial	10:42:39.0

A single fencer represented South Africa. It was the second appearance of the nation in fencing. Walter Gate, who had also been South Africa's only fencer in 1908, competed in all three weapons and was defeated in the first round of each competition.

Eight shooters represented South Africa. It was the nation's first appearance in shooting. The South African team took fourth place in the team rifle competition; this was the closest the nation got to winning a medal in shooting. The best individual performance was Harvey's tenth place finish in the military rifle.