| Year: | 1978–79 |
| Tour: | Southern Africa Tour |
| Regular Season: | – |
| No Of Events: | 8 |
| Most Wins: |  Dale Hayes (2) Simon Hobday (2) |
| Honor1: | Order of Merit |
| Honoree1: | Hugh Baiocchi |
| Prevseason: | 1977–78 |
| Nextseason: | 1979–80 |
The 1978–79 Southern Africa Tour was the eighth season of the Southern Africa Tour. Rhodesian Simon Hobday was the most successful golfer in the early season, winning the first two events of the season, both in his home country. A number of players had success in the middle of the season but it was Hugh Baiocchi, who won the flagship Yellow Pages South African Open, that captured Order of Merit honors.
Simon Hobday was the top player early in the season. At the inaugural event, the Rhodesian Dunlop Masters, he was victorious.[1] The following event, the Victoria Falls Classic, also held in Rhodesia, was being played in the middle of the Rhodesian Bush War. Hobday tried to recruit a number of top European players to play in the event but was not successful.[2] He went on the win the event.[3]
South Africans Dale Hayes, Hugh Baiocchi, and Tienie Britz were the top players later in the season. In the third event, the ICL International, Hayes defeated Baiocchi in a playoff. At the fifth tournament, Baiocchi won the Yellow Pages South African Open by one shot.[4] The following week Hayes defeated Britz in a playoff at the Kronenbrau Masters.[5] Britz won the Kalahari Classic the week after, however.[6] Baiocchi went on to win the Order of Merit.
The following table lists official events during the 1978–79 season.[7] [8] [9] [10]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) | Winner | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Nov | Rhodesia | Rh$14,000 | Simon Hobday (1) | |||
| 11 Nov | Rhodesia | 35,000 | Simon Hobday (2) | |||
| 18 Nov | Transvaal | 35,000 | Dale Hayes (13) | |||
| 2 Dec | Transvaal | 50,000 |  Hale Irwin (n/a) | |||
| 9 Dec | Cape | 45,000 | Hugh Baiocchi (7) | |||
| 15 Dec | Cape | 30,000 | Dale Hayes (14) | |||
| 14 Jan | Botswana | 18,000 | Tienie Britz (3) | New tournament | ||
| 7 Feb | Swaziland | 20,000 | John Bland (4) |
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[11]