Answer:
In no particular order of importance:
1. South Africa is the 2nd largest exporter of fruit in the world
2. South Africa has the longest wine route in the world and is the 8th largest wine producer in the world
3. South Africa is 5x the size of Japan
4. The first heart transplant took place in Cape Town South Africa in Dec 1967 at Groote Schuur Hospital
5. Kimberly was the first city in SA to have electric street lights in 1882
6. Author JRR Tolkien (of Lord of the Rings fame) was born in Bloemfontein SA
7. South Africa has 11 official languages
8. The southern most point of the African continent is located in South Africa at Cape Agulhas
9. South Africa has 2,798 km of coastline
10. The Cape Colony was annexed by Britain in 1806
11. The first black president of South Africa was Nelson Mandela (1994)
12. South Africa is the 25th largest country in the world (1,219,912 km2)
13. South Africa is the second largest producer of gold in the world (2010)
14. South Africa is the third largest coal exporter in the world
15. South Africa has about 20,000 species of plants (about 10% of the worlds diversity)
16. South Africa's currency is the Rand, comprised of 100 cents
17. South Africa's has a population of almost 50 million people (2010)
18. South Africa was the first African country to host the FIFA world cup soccer event (2010)
19. Territories of South Africa include Prince Edward and Marion Island in the south Atlantic
20. The warm Mozambique (east) and cold Benguela (west) ocean currents meet off the southern tip of South Africa - see point 8
21. 61% of the population reside in urban areas
22. The infant mortality rate is 43.7 per 1000 births, life expectancy is between 48 and 50 years
23. Ethnic ratios: 79% Black, 9.6% White, 8.9% Coloured and 2.5% Indian or Asian (2001)
24. There are 4.4 million land based telephones in SA, 45 million mobile phones in use and about 4.1 million Internet users (2008)
25. There are 607 airports in SA (148 paved and 459 unpaved)
26. It has three legal and recognised capitals: Pretoria (Executive government), Cape Town (Legislative government) and Bloemfontein (Judicial government)
27. Holds the record for the worlds deepest mine - TauTona in Carletonville at just over 3.9km (2008)
28. Produced the worlds largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found, the Cullinan Diamond at 3,106 carats (621 grams)
29. Has the largest economy out of all the members states of the African Union
30. Table Mountain in Cape Town is the largest tourist attraction in South Africa
31. South Africa is the largest producer as well as consumer of energy on the African continent
32. Is the home to the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere (SALT) in Sutherland
33. South Africa's total road network is approximately 754,000km! Of which 9,600km are surfaced National roads.
34. Has the 10th largest rail network in the world - 20,000km.
35. The first South African built satellite (SUNSAT) was produced at Stellenbosch University outside Cape Town and launched on 23 February 1999 from the Vandenberg, AFB in the USA.