Canada's Lauren Sesselmann battles for the ball against South Africa's Noko Matlou during the group F women's soccer match at the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
Poor defence by the South Africans saw Melissa Tancredi score her second goal of the tournament, from a Diana Matheson cross, in the seventh minute.
Banyana keeper Thokozile Mndaweni was forced to make a number of early saves as Matheson, Rhian Wilkinson and Kaylyn Kyle constantly troubled the defence.
South Africa's first shot on goal came from Andisiwe Mgcoyi, in the 21st minute, but it was easily saved by Karina LeBlanc.
Missed opportunities
Banyana worked their way into the game and missed a couple of opportunities as they held off the world's seventh-ranked side.
Trailing 1-0, Banyana came out fighting in the second half and created several chances.
It took Canada 10 minutes before they stepped up a gear and Mndaweni did well to deny Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt and Tancredi, all in quick succession.
Three minutes later, however, Sinclair fired home off her own rebounded shot, and Mndaweni was left stranded.
It was Sinclair again who beat the offside trap and, with only the keeper to challenge her, she slotted home her second and Canada's third goal in the 86th minute.
Tough
The damage could have been worse after Matheson booted a shot from 30m out which hit the crossbar. Mndaweni assumed the ball was going over the net and made no real attempt to go for it.
The last quarter saw Canada in complete control, toying with Bafana, as they dominated the game.
It was always going to be tough for the 61st-ranked South Africans, drawn against three of the top seven sides in the world, but it was their defence which let them down badly in the end.
Their next match is on Tuesday against world champions Japan. – Sapa