Lionesses coach Sarina Wiegman made a number of changes from the side that lost to Germany on Friday with the three City players coming into the starting line-up, while Lauren Hemp moved to the bench.
It looked like it was going to be a straightforward win when England took a two-goal lead inside 23 minutes through Arsenal’s Leah Williamson and Manchester United’s Grace Clinton.
Park was a constant threat in the middle of midfield as the home side look to extend their advantage.
But Thembi Kgatlana pulled a goal back for South Africa 10 minutes into the second half and then had another strike ruled out for offside.
Kelly went close to restoring England’s advantage with a long-range strike but it clipped the crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten.
The African champions pushed for an equaliser as England survived a number of scares.
And Hemp joined the action with 15 minutes remaining as England held on to secure the win.
Earlier in the day, Laura Blindkilde Brown played for England Under 23s as they beat Portugal 1-0 in Shrewsbury.
A record crowd of just under 3,000 fans watched the game with the young Lionesses winning with an 86th-minute free-kick from Brighton’s Michelle Agyemang.
Elsewhere, Jill Roord played just over an hour for Netherlands as they won 2-1 in Denmark.
And Leila Ouahabi was an unused substitute in Spain’s 1-1 draw away to Italy.
