The 3rd round leader posted a strong-finishing 4-under 67 for a 19-under 266 total that left 1st round leader Andrew McLardy trailing by two shots following a closing 68 while fiery fellow South African Hennie Otto, another of the tournament's front-runners this week, was third, a further shot back after equalling Canete's 67.

Two more South Africans, Alex Haindl and Mark Murless, tied for 4th after respective rounds of 70 and 68 with England's Edward Rush, the top British finisher, in joint 5th place with Brazilian Adilson da Silva, the duo being seven shots off the pace on 273.

No less than 36 players had to return early on Sunday morning to complete their third round, interrupted by a heavy thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon, before the fourth round teed off.

The surprise of the morning was the upsurge of South African Alex Haindl, who shot a 67 to join compatriot Hennie Otto in third place.

Haindl posted a one-under 70 in his afternoon round, but three birdies and an eagle on the back nine suddenly catapulted him to the top part of the leaderboard.

The top five finishers on Sunday will be given exemptions to Abu Dhabi next weekend but Haindl will not be going as he does not have European Tour membership.

Canete, who first came to South Africa in 1997 on his first year on the European Tour when he failed to make the cut in either the Dimension Data Championship at Sun City or in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Houghton Golf Club, but then finished in a tie for 18th at Leopard Creek and joint 25th in the South African Open at Fancourt in 2005, has finally secured his first victory on both the European and Sunshine Tours, which co-sanctioned the Joburg Open, with his late two-birdie flurry.

It wasn't easy though. He had to fight off three determined challengers to claim his first victory and his third top 10 finish on the European Tour.

This after deciding to enter the Joburg Open on a sudden whim.

"I was in Argentina and it was the holidays," Canete disclosed to reporters.

"My category has not been so good recently and I was sitting there doing nothing, waiting for the Challenge Tour, to start when my sponsor phoned me and told me to get myself across the ocean to the Joburg Open where there would be a place for me in a weakened field

"It was certainly worth while coming. I am very, very happy."

Entering the tournament, Canete had no status on tour after finishing 146th on the Order of Merit last year and then failing to regain his card at Qualifying School. But that's all changed with this victory, for it will have given him an exemption on both co-sanctioning Tours and a place in the Abu Dhabi field next week.

Canete led by one entering the final round, but lost his lead when he dropped a shot on the second.

He parred his next two holes, but fell behind McLardy, who, playing four groups head of him, birdied the fifth and seventh and went to 15-under.

Canete was not to be thwarted, though, hitting back with a birdie of his own at the 5th to join McLardy in the lead . .

The 31-year-old Canete parred his next three holes while Haindl and Otto moved up to join him and McLardy in the lead as the final day battle hotted up.

McLardy birdied the 12th and Otto the eighth, both to move to minus-16, one stroke clear of Canete and Haindl.

Canete came back yet again with a birdie at the 9th to go into a three-way tie for the lead, but fell one behind McLardy once more with four straight pars.

As the pressure told, Haindl fell off the pace with a bogey on 14 and Otto stumbled with bogeys at nine and 10, and with neither able to recover, Canete and McLardy were left to fight it out for the title.

McLardy was the first to reach 17-under with a birdie on 15 but parred his way home to finish on that score. It was then a case of having to sit and wait out Canete's arrival at the clubhouse.

Canete joined the South African at 17-under with a birdie at 15 and then to McLardy's dismay, shot back-to-back birdies on the last two holes to wrap-up what for him will always be famous victory

"I putted really well all week," Canete enthused when talking about his triumph.

"The (putting) lines always seemed very clear in my mind, while my caddie helped a lot with club selection, as the ball travels much farther here than it does at home in Argentina."

ALL THE FINAL ROUND SCORES

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):

266 Ariel Canete (Arg) 66 68 65 67

268 Andrew McLardy (RSA) 63 72 65 68

269 Hennie Otto (RSA) 65 67 70 67

272 Alex Haindl (RSA) 68 68 66 70, Mark Murless (RSA) 64 71 69 68

273 Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 71 65 69 68, Edward Rush 70 67 67 69

274 James Kingston (RSA) 66 66 72 70, Doug McGuigan 68 67 71 68, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 67 66 74 67, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 64 71 69 70

275 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 69 67 69 70, Ulrich Van Den Berg (RSA) 68 69 70 68, Sven Struver (Ger) 65 71 68 71, Alastair Forsyth 67 68 69 71, Keith Horne (RSA) 67 71 69 68

276 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 68 72 71 65, Richard Sterne (RSA) 69 66 71 70

277 Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 69 68 69 71, Dion Fourie (RSA) 71 68 70 68, Tom Whitehouse 67 73 69 68, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 65 69 74 69, Euan Little 69 71 68 69

278 Matthew Zions (Aus) 67 68 71 72, David Park 65 71 69 73

279 Lee S James 69 71 67 72, Kalle Brink (Swe) 69 68 72 70, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 66 68 73

280 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 69 66 72 73, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 70 66 74 70, Oliver Wilson 69 68 73 70, Benn Barham 68 70 69 73, Justin Walters (RSA) 68 69 74 69

281 Richard Bland 68 72 72 69, Brett Liddle (RSA) 69 68 70 74, Garth Mulroy (RSA) 69 69 71 72, Shaun Norris (RSA) 69 69 72 71, Jaco Van Zyl (RSA) 67 68 71 75, Michiel Bothma (RSA) 71 68 71 71, Antti Ahokas (Fin) 73 66 71 71, Ryan Tipping (RSA) 70 69 69 73

282 Brandon Pieters (RSA) 65 71 73 73, Raphael Eyraud (Fra) 70 67 72 73, Andrew Curlewis (RSA) 70 70 71 71, Trevor Fisher Jnr (RSA) 67 72 73 70, Desmond Terblanche (RSA) 73 67 70 72

283 Jakobus Roos (RSA) 67 65 75 76, Stuart Cage 67 72 74 70, David Dixon 66 71 73 73, Robert Wiederkehr (Swi) 69 70 74 70, Bobby Lincoln (RSA) 67 71 70 75, Darren Fichardt (RSA) 68 72 69 74, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 65 73 75 70, Stuart Little 74 65 72 72

284 Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 66 69 75 74, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 66 72 71 75, Jamie Little 66 74 72 72, Gareth Davies 66 71 70 77, Paul Nilbrink (Swe) 71 68 73 72, Julio Zapata (Arg) 70 69 71 74, Peter Kaensche (Nor) 69 71 73 71, Christiaan Basson (RSA) 74 66 73 71, Ross Wellington (RSA) 69 71 71 73, Marcus Higley 71 69 72 72, Warren Abery (RSA) 64 73 73 74, Andrew Marshall 69 69 69 77

285 Jaco Ahlers (RSA) 72 68 72 73, Michael Lamb (Zim) 68 71 71 75, David Higgins 69 69 72 75

287 Paul Dwyer 68 71 72 76, Gustavo Rojas (Arg) 70 70 73 74, Vaughn Groenewald (RSA) 65 74 74 74

288 Dean Lambert (RSA) 68 66 76 78, Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA) 72 68 73 75, Grant Muller (RSA) 68 72 75 73, Robert Dinwiddie 69 69 76 74, Sion Bebb 69 71 76 72, Chris Davison (RSA) 68 71 74 75

289 Tyrone Van Aswegen (RSA) 68 72 77 72

290 Magnus Persson (Swe) 68 67 79 76, Chris Gane 65 72 75 78, Simon Nash (Aus) 72 68 72 78

291 Omar Sandys (RSA) 70 69 75 77