Data collected by the Pan-African Society of Cardiology for the World Heart Federation's Cardiovascular Diseases Scorecard project in Africa are presented. We summarise the strengths, threats, weaknesses and priorities identified from the collected data for South Africa, which need to be considered in conjunction with the associated sections in the accompanying infographic. Data sets that were used include open-source data available online and government publications. In the section on priorities and the way forward, we highlight the multifactorial health challenges with which South Africa has had to deal and the progress that has been made.