Siya Kolisi will be the first black player to captain South Africa for a Test match after being handed the role for the upcoming series against England.
Loose forward Kolisi, who captains Super Rugby side Stormers, has played in 28 Tests since making his debut against Scotland in June 2013 and has scored four tries.
Kolisi's appointment will see him become the first black Springboks captain in the Test arena after Chiliboy Ralepelle led South Africa in a tour match against a World XV in December 2006.
Kolisi's captaincy for the three-Test series against England in June - with all matches live on Sky Sports - comes after Warren Whiteley and Eben Etzebeth suffered injury.
South Africa director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, who has been in charge since April, has also chosen Kolisi's Stormers team-mate Pieter-Steph du Toit to captain the Boks for the one-off Test against Wales in Washington DC on Saturday.
Erasmus said of his appointments: "It's a huge honour to captain the Springboks and Siya and Pieter-Steph are two honest, hardworking men who enjoy the respect of their fellow players.
"I believe both of them will do a good job as captains. My philosophy is that each player must take responsibility for his position and must therefore work extremely hard with that one goal in mind - to make the Springboks successful again."