The hosts, who were under severe pressure heading into the game after only managing a draw against Iraq in their tournament opener, dominated from start to finish at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium and could have won by an even bigger margin.

In the end they had the Red Star Belgrade striker to thank after he finally settled nerves by opening the scoring in the 21st minute and sealed the points with a second early in the second half, Tsepo Masilela providing the final ball on both occasions.

The win lifts Bafana Bafana into second place in Group A, two points behind leaders Spain, whom they face in their final game.

Needing a good performance to lift the nation, South Africa began with intent from the outset with Thembinkosi Fanteni, Teko Modise and Parker all coming close in the opening nine minutes.

When Fanteni did finally manage to hit the back of the net after 10 minutes, his effort was correctly ruled off-side.

The Maccabi Haifa striker then combined well with Steven Pienaar, allowing him to get away another shot, which was this time drilled straight at Glen Moss in the New Zealand goal.

Joel Santana's men were finally rewarded with the breakthrough when Pienaar sent Tsepo Masilela down the left and he in turn skipped away from Dave Mulligan before cutting the ball back to Parker, whose 10-yard shot took a slight deflection off Andy Boyens before finding the back of the goal.

A slightly barren spell then followed for the hosts, with the All Whites slowly beginning to threaten, but their best chance came from a mis-hit Tim Brown effort.

At the other end, the South Africans almost grabbed a second in the 33rd minute when Parker set up a counter-attack and raced down the left, before cutting inside two players and unleashing a powerful low shot that was somehow kept out by the left foot of Moss.

That proved the last real chance of the opening 45 minutes as the home side went into the break in command.

The second half began as the first did with Modise striking his 18-yard effort over the bar, while Siboniso Gaxa came close to meeting Kagiso Dikgacoi's left-sided cross.

Another South Africa goal looked on the cards and again the Kiwis did not heed the warning signs as Masilela set up Parker for a second after 52 minutes.

In almost a carbon copy of the first goal, the full-back again made progress down the left flank before playing in Parker to finish from the centre of the penalty area.

The lively striker almost grabbed his hat-trick just after the hour mark when he met Pienaar's cross with a meaty header that was well intercepted by Moss.

Things continued to look bleak for Ricki Herbert's men with substitute Katlego Mashego constantly posing a threat through the middle after his introduction by Santana.

His best opportunity came after 83 minutes when he was put through on the left side of the box by Siphiwe Tshabalala, but his goal-bound effort was pushed away one-handed by the impressive Moss.

However, it was by no means a costly miss as the home side held on for a comfortable win