The virus, which is causing global alarm after spreading through much of the Americas, was detected in the man on his visit to Johannesburg, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said.
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Given the frequency of travel between South Africa and a number of countries now experiencing outbreaks of the Zika virus, it was likely that other sporadic imported cases would be seen in South Africa in travellers, as had been the experience in a number of countries, Motsoaledi said.
Microcephaly is an irreversible condition in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head and brain.
However, it could take months or years to prove whether Zika is directly causing either Guillain-Barré or microcephaly.
Results are expected this spring, said CDC principal deputy director Anne Schuchat.
Most people who contract the infection have no symptoms, but some experience fever, joint pain, rash and red eyes.
“The epidemiologic studies ongoing here in Brazil and some being initiated in Colombia should help cement the link”, she said.
Dr. David Williams said Friday that the patient is a person who had recently travelled to Columbia, but provided no further details.
In May 2015, a case was diagnosed in Brazil and, since then, it has spread rapidly. “So, that is obviously four or five months away”, Aylward said.
“This does not still prove causation… but it is an increasing accumulation of evidence”, Aylward told a news briefing.
The CDC says that children and infants who have traveled to an area with Zika within the past two weeks and have at least two symptoms are classified as suspect cases. Brazil is investigating more than 3,900 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.
Quoted by News24, Motsoaledi said, “The confirmation of this particular case poses no risk to the South African population as the virus is not transmitted from human to human but through the Aedes aegypti mosquito and or possibly from mother to the foetus in pregnant women”.
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The virus continues to spread with the CDC saying there are now active outbreaks in Aruba and Bonaire.
