Cape Town - The Blitzboks have finished the Hamilton Sevens in fourth place after losing comprehensively to New Zealand 29-7 in the bronze final on Sunday.
After dominating the open exchanges, the Blitzboks opened the scoring when Siviwe Soyizwapi crashed over near the posts for a try converted by Selvyn Davids and a 7-0 lead after 5 minutes.
New Zealand hit back straight away, spreading the ball wide to the left to send Iukarisitone James Ng Shiu over in the left-hand corner.
Andrew Knewstubb converted brilliantly from a tight angle to tie the match at 7-7.
New Zealand grabbed the lead just on half-time with Tim Mikkelson crossing the whitewash.
Knewstubb added the extras for New Zealand to lead 14-7 at the break.
The home side started the second half strongly with more brilliant handling, sending Ng Shiu over for his second try of the match and a 19-7 lead.
South Africa's task was made even bigger when Werner Kok was shown a yellow card for a late tackle. New Zealand made the extra man count, sending Joe Ravouvou over in the right-hand corner for a 24-7 led with just two minutes to play.
The home side added another five-pointer on the stroke of full-time with Sam Dickson cruising over to give New Zealand a stunning victory.
Earlier, Fiji comprehensively outplayed the Blitzboks in their semi-final encounter, running out easy 29-7 winners.
Fiji would go on to annihilate the USA 38-0 in the final.
Completed results from Day 2 of the New Zealand round of the World Rugby Sevens series in Hamilton on Sunday.
Cup
Quarter-finals
Fiji 33 Canada 7
South Africa 28 Samoa 19
New Zealand 24 Australia 17
USA 19 Scotland 14
Semi-finals
Fiji 29 South Africa 7
USA 17 New Zealand 7
Playoff 3-4
New Zealand 29 South Africa 7
Final
Fiji 38 USA 0
Challenge Trophy
Quarter-finals
Argentina 35 Japan 0
Kenya 19 Tonga 12
Spain 19 Wales 10
England 21 France 5
Semi-finals
Kenya 24 Argentina 7
England 38 Spain 7
Final
England 36 Kenya 7