Pakistan were bowled out for 250 in their second innings, adding 32 runs for their last two wickets, leaving South Africa with just 44 to win.
Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs took South Africa to a comfortable win, with Gibbs hitting an unbeaten 25 off 17 balls.
The Pakistan attack was without captain Waqar Younis, who did not take the field after being struck on the right forearm while batting.
Waqar appeared after the match with his arm wrapped in bandages but said he was “fine”.
Waqar said his team had failed to take advantage of winning the toss and sending South Africa in.
“We didn’t put enough balls in the right place,” he said.
He paid tribute to the South African bowlers.
“They obviously know how to bowl in these conditions.”
Pakistan’s batting was also disappointing. “Some of the batsmen played silly shots,” Waqar said.
South African captain Shaun Pollock said it had turned out to be a toss that he was happy to have lost.
“We were thinking about sending them in but in the end we had to bat and our batsmen applied themselves. Then our bowlers were pretty clinical.”
Unless Pakistan win the second and final Test which starts in Cape Town on Thursday, South Africa will be world Test champions. They will overtake Australia on the International Cricket Council Test log, which is decided on average points gained in series.
Facing a hopeless situation, the Pakistan tailenders went for their shots on Sunday, starting the day 11 runs ahead with two wickets standing.
Kamran Akmal hit two fours before being caught behind off Makhaya Ntini for 29 off the last ball of the first over of the day.
Although the new ball was due, South Africa did not take it until Mohammad Sami slogged a six over long-on off Ntini in the fifth over.
In Ntini’s next over, Waqar missed a pull and was hit on the right forearm. He was in visible pain and required treatment on the field before he continued batting.
He top-edged a six over wicket-keeper Mark Boucher three balls later but was out in the next over when he skied Shaun Pollock to mid-wicket, where Gary Kirsten held a good, sliding catch.
All five South African bowlers took two wickets, with Pollock taking two for 29 to return the best figures.
In the absence of Waqar, Pakistan opened the bowling with fast bowler Sami and off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq.
Pakistan will hope that Waqar’s assessment of his injury is accurate because without him they would have a serious problem.
Pakistan are already without two leading fast bowlers. Wasim Akram was not available for the Tests and Shoaib Akhtar withdrew from the series because of a knee injury. Shoaib was said to have returned home but arrived in Durban while the Test was on to attend a show by Bollywood film stars.
Pakistan gave a disappointing performance, with their batsmen in particular letting them down. Inexperienced openers Taufiq Umar and Salim Elahi put on 77 and 50 for the first wicket in the two innings but the side’s senior batsmen failed.
Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana scored only 116 runs between them in the match.
Jacques Kallis, the South African all-rounder, was named Man-of-the-Match. He scored 105 in South Africa’s first innings of 368 and took two wickets in the second innings.
Scoreboard
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings) 368 (J.H. Kallis 105, G. Kirsten 56, M.V. Boucher 55; Saqlain Mushtaq 4-119).
PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 161 (M. Hayward 5-56).
PAKISTAN (2nd Innings, overnight 218-8):
Taufiq Umar lbw b Boje 39
Salim Elahi c Smith b Ntini 18
Younis Khan c Boucher b Kallis 30
Inzamam-ul-Haq c Gibbs b Boje 13
Yousuf Youhana c McKenzie b Hayward 42
Faisal Iqbal b Kallis 17
Abdul Razzaq c Boucher b Hayward 22
Kamran Akmal c Boucher b Ntini 29
Saqlain Mushtaq c Boucher b Pollock 4
Waqar Younis c Kirsten b Pollock 15
Mohammad Sami not out 11
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-1, NB-7) 10
TOTAL (all out, 87.3 overs) 250
FALL OF WKTS: 1-50, 2-64, 3-88, 4-132, 5-156, 6-184, 7-199, 8-216, 9-226.
BOWLING: Ntini 21-2-73-2 (4nb, 1w); Pollock 17.3-4-29-2 (2nb); Kallis 17-5-30-2; Hayward 13-1-63-2 (1nb); Boje 19-2-53-2.
SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Innings):
G.C. Smith not out 13
H.H. Gibbs not out 25
EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-6) 7
TOTAL (for no wkt, 9 overs) 45
BOWLING: Mohammad Sami 5-0-36-0 (5nb); Saqlain Mushtaq 4-2-8-0 (1nb).
RESULT: South Africa won by 10 wickets.
UMPIRES: S.A. Bucknor (West Indies) and S. Venkataraghavan (India).
TV UMPIRE: I.L. Howell (South Africa).
MATCH REFEREE: G.R. Viswanath (India).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Jacques Kallis.
SECOND TEST: Cape Town, Jan 2-6.—AFP/Reuters