Dale Steyn’s four-wicket burst (4-80) proved too much for Pakistan in the second innings as they were bowled out for 235 after being capitulated for 156 in reply of hosts’ 409.
South Africa had won the first Test in Johannesburg by 211 runs and the second in Cape Town by four wickets, all of both were finished on the penultimate day.
Debutant seamer Kyle Abbott, who destroyed the Pakistani batting in the first innings by claiming seven wickets for 29 runs before finishing with 2-29 in the second, was named man-of-the-match.
Imran Farhat was the top-scorer for Pakistan with 43 and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and Saeed Ajmal resisted with 40 and 31 runs respectively but their contributions were not enough for tourists to make South Africa bat again.
After resuming the day at 14-1, Pakistan suffered a blow early in the morning when Steyn edged Younis Khan (11) to Graeme Smith in the slips.
Azhar Ali (27) and Farhat deified South African attack till lunch but South Africa hit back drastically after the interval and removed pair in quick-succession to leave Pakistan wobbling 4-107.
The tourists had not yet recovered from double-setback when Rory Kleinveldt struck twice to remove Misbah-ul Haq (5) and Asad Shafiq (6) in his successive overs.
Sarfraz and Saeed revived Pakistan’s hopes to avoid the humiliation of innings defeat by sharing 59 runs for the seventh wicket but Steyn shattered their hopes by scalping both inside four overs.
The two sides will now play two T20s and five one-day internationals.