Race Result
| GP n. 316 - 03/03/1979 - Grand Prix of South-Africa Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit |
|||||||
| Winner: | Gilles Villeneuve / Ferrari - 1:41'49.96 | ||||||
| Pole Position: | Jean Pierre Jabouille / Renault - 1:11.80 | ||||||
| Fastest Lap: | Gilles Villeneuve / Ferrari - 1:14.412 | ||||||
| Pos | Nš | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 12 |  Gilles Villeneuve |
Ferrari | 78 | 1:41'49.96 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | 11 |  Jody Scheckter |
Ferrari | 78 | + 3.42 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 4 |  Jean Pierre Jarier |
Tyrrell-Ford | 78 | + 22.11 | 9 | 4 |
| 4 | 1 |  Mario Andretti |
Lotus-Ford | 78 | + 27.88 | 8 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 |  Carlos Reutemann |
Lotus-Ford | 78 | + 1'06.97 | 11 | 2 |
| 6 | 5 |  Niki Lauda |
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 77 | + 1 lap | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | 6 |  Nelson Piquet |
Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 77 | + 1 lap | 12 | 0 |
| 8 | 20 |  James Hunt |
Wolf-Ford | 77 | + 1 lap | 13 | 0 |
| 9 | 28 |  Clay Regazzoni |
Williams-Ford | 76 | + 2 laps | 22 | 0 |
| 10 | 8 | Patrick Tambay |
McLaren-Ford | 75 | + 3 laps | 17 | 0 |
| 11 | 29 |  Riccardo Patrese |
Arrows-Ford | 75 | + 3 laps | 16 | 0 |
| 12 | 30 |  Jochen Mass |
Arrows-Ford | 74 | + 4 laps | 20 | 0 |
| 13 | 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi |
Fittipaldi-Ford | 74 | + 4 laps | 18 | 0 |
| Ret | 31 |  Hector Rebaque |
Lotus-Ford | 71 | engine | 23 | 0 |
| Ret | 16 | Rene Arnoux |
Renault | 67 | tyre | 10 | 0 |
| Ret | 27 |  Alan Jones |
Williams-Ford | 63 | suspension | 19 | 0 |
| Ret | 7 | John Watson |
McLaren-Ford | 61 | ignition | 14 | 0 |
| Ret | 9 | Hans Joachim Stuck |
ATS-Ford | 57 | accident | 24 | 0 |
| Ret | 15 | Jean Pierre Jabouille |
Renault | 47 | engine | 1 | 0 |
| Ret | 26 | Jacques Laffite |
Ligier-Ford | 45 | accident | 6 | 0 |
| Ret | 3 | Didier Pironi |
Tyrrell-Ford | 25 | throttle | 7 | 0 |
| Ret | 18 | Elio de Angelis |
Shadow-Ford | 16 | accident | 15 | 0 |
| Ret | 25 | Patrick Depailler |
Ligier-Ford | 4 | accident | 5 | 0 |
| Ret | 17 |  Jan Lammers |
Shadow-Ford | 2 | accident | 21 | 0 |
| Dnq | 22 |  Derek Daly |
Ensign-Ford | did not qualify | 0 | ||
| Dnq | 24 | Arturo Merzario |
Merzario-Ford | did not qualify | 0 | ||