The Open team has the longest history of any South African national team, first competing in the 1998 WUC in Minnesota. They also competed under the name "Tsetse Fly" in the club championships in the early 2000s before Open clubs were established in South Africa. The team rebranded to the Mambas for 2012 WUGC and commemorated this with one of their strongest performances since inception, mainly due to the lethal connection of Ryan Purcell and Finn de Haan.
The Scorpions attended their first tournament in London, England in 2016. The team boasted many players who had been involved in the start of competitive South African ultimate in the early 2000s and they showed their class in a very impressive display. Unfortunately, inclement weather cancelled what would have been a showdown against Japan for the top 8, and the Scorpions had to settle for a defacto 11th place.
South Africa sent its first mixed team to the 2004 WUC in Turku, Finland. In 2012, the team took first prize for spirit in the division. The team was rebranded the Honey Badgers in 2020 for the cancelled WUGC tournament due to the tenacious reputation of the African mammal.
The Meerkats were set to compete in their first ever tournament in the Gold Coast, Australia in 2020, but this was not to be when the COVID pandemic caused the outright cancellation of the event.
Bafazi Bafazi (The women, the women in isiZulu) marked a groundbreaking feat in South African ultimate in 2016, being the first South African team to compete internationally in the Women's division. This was a result of the hard work that captains Robin Willis, Anna Coussens and Julia Harris put in not only to the national team, but to South African Women's ultimate in general. The team also set up the Bafazi Bafazi fund that seeks to offer sponsorship to South African women in ultimate.
The Wild Dogs attended their first tournament in 2015 in London, England, with the bulk of the team consisting of UCT's golden generation. Coached by Corné Badenhorst and Jonothan Aronson, the team exceeded expectations at the event. They epitomised their name as a fierce pack ready to work together to bring their opponent down.