Carlos Alberto Parreira's hosts can hold their heads up high after they ground out a narrow Group A win against the 1998 world champions thanks to first-half efforts from Bongani Khumalo and Katlego Mphela.
France played over 65 minutes with ten men after Yoann Gourcuff was dismissed for an elbow before substitute Florent Malouda replied to offer hope.
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Following their much-publicised on and off-field problems, France coach Raymond Domenech made a number of surprise changes as he dropped captain Patrice Evra, Eric Abidal and Malouda from the starting line-up.Andre-Pierre Gignac, another who made his way into the team, missed an early gilt-edged chance as Gourcuff played him in.
But, when placed one-on-one with goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs, he failed to deliver as he tamely shot straight into his grasp.
Their problems soon escalated further as stopper Hugo Lloris came out flapping at Siphiwe Tshabalala's corner, leaving giant defender Bongani Khumalo to bundle home from close range in the 20th minute.
If things weren't bad enough, they were soon to reach a new low as playmaker Gourcuff was shown a straight red card by Colombian referee Oscar Ruiz.
It appeared as though the midfielder caught MacBeth Sibaya with a stray elbow and the official was quick to serve him his marching orders as Sibaya lay stricken on the surface.
Bafana Bafana were now going for the jugular and they grabbed a crucial second through Mphela.
The frontman was in the right place at the right time as Bernard Parker fired across the six-yard box and he made no mistake on the goalline.
Domenech introduced Malouda at the interval and the winger made an impact with his marauding runs and incisive play, but they continued to struggle in front of goal.
Mphela almost made it three as he was slipped in by Tshabalala, but he cracked the ball against the angle of post and bar as France survived.
Thierry Henry made his way onto the field and, like Malouda, made an impression as they halved the deficit.
Franck Ribery was played in on the right by Bacary Sagna and the Bayern Munich winger picked out Malouda unmarked in the centre and he had the easy task of rolling home.
Both sides created a number of half chances, but it was the hosts who should have regained their two-goal cushion in injury time.
Once again it was Tshabalala at the heart of it as he was picked out at the back post, but he fired his effort straight at Lloris.
Despite his miss, they held on comfortably to end their campaign with a win and it is Uruguay and Mexico who progress to the last 16.
Source: DSG
