Ben Stokes removed Stiaan van Zyl in his first over for England's only wicket against South Africa in Thursday's opening session of the third Test at the Wanderers.
Van Zyl went for 21 and South Africa reached lunch at 1-73. The opener top-edged a loose delivery from Stokes and the high, spiralling catch was taken by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.
Dean Elgar was 28 not out and Hashim Amla on 15 in overcast conditions.
New South African captain AB de Villiers won the toss and elected to bat as the hosts awaited the late arrival of a replacement wicketkeeper.
The Proteas were forced into a late change to their team in the morning after keeper Quinton de Kock was ruled out with a sprained right knee after falling over at his home.
De Villiers, who has taken over from Amla, said the decision to bat was based on the form of his team from the second Test in Newlands, where they fought valiantly to earn a draw after England had scored 629 runs in the first innings.
"It wasn't an easy decision but we want to put some pressure on England. We turned things around as far as our confidence is concerned in Cape Town and we come into this game energised," de Villiers said in a pitchside interview.
England lead the four-Test series 1-0, leaving South Africa under pressure in the final two matches.
The Proteas made two changes from the second test, one being de Kock under bizarre last-minute circumstances.
Wicketkeeper Dane Vilas was forced to make a desperate dash to the ground after being called up as a late replacement.
He was destined to arrive late for the first ball at 10:30am (local time) because Cricket South Africa could not book him on a flight earlier than 8am from Port Elizabeth, where he was due to play in a four-day provincial match.
Flights from the coastal city to Johannesburg take two hours and the usual heavy traffic from the airport to the stadium looked set to add more drama to the dash.
De Kock sustained a freak injury to his right knee on Wednesday.
South Africa also handed a debut to fast bowler Hardus Viljoen at the expense of spinner Dane Piedt.
England, who won the first Test by 241 runs in Durban, were unchanged despite several of the side recovering from a stomach virus that swept through the squad in Cape Town.
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