"We hope the ball will get wet quickly and nullify the chances of any swing," said home captain Faf du Plessis, who took charge of the team for the first time in the absence of AB de Villiers.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said he would have opted to bowl had he won the toss.
"There are a lot of unknowns with this wicket but hopefully a bit for us and we can make some early inroads with our seamers. We’ll need to be patient with the ball in hand," he said.
New Zealand, fresh from a 2-0 series win over Zimbabwe, brought Doug Bracewell into the side as an fourth seamer and dropped spinner Ish Sodhi from their last test outing. For South Africa, seamers Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn returned after lengthy injury spells and will provide a potentially fearsome seam attack along with Kagiso Rabada.
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Dane Peidt was picked as the lead spinner.
The surface at Kingsmead is expected to provide turn and be slower than usual. It is the first time a test is being hosted in Durban in August.
Teams:
South Africa: Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis (captain), Temba Bavuma, JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Santner, Doug Bracewell, Neil Wagner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
