The Proteas made three changes to the side which beat Australia by seven wickets on Wednesday. Rilee Rossouw, Kyle Abbott and Aaron Phangiso come in for AB de Villiers, Wayne Parnell and Morne Morkel.
De Villiers is suffering from a viral infection, and Morkel is nursing a chronic rotator cuff strain to the right shoulder.
Vice-captain, Hashim Amla, will lead the side in the absence of AB de Villiers.
South Africa: Hashim Amla (captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, JP Duminy, Ryan McLaren, Dale Steyn, Kyle Abbott, Aaron Phangiso, Imran Tahir.
Zimbabwe XI: Elton Chigumbura (captain), Tinotenda Mawoyo, Sirkandar Raza, Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Malcolm Waller, Prosper Utseya, John Nyumbu, Brian Vitori.