South Africa, led by their first non-white captain Ashwell Prince, arrived in Sri Lanka on Wednesday to play two tests and a one-day series also featuring India.
The Proteas are depleted by the absence of regular captain Graeme Smith and star all-rounder Jacques Kallis, both of whom are injured.
Veteran pace bowler Shaun Pollock will also miss the first test, having chosen to stay home with his wife who is expecting a child next week.
Only 12 of the 14 players arrived on Wednesday, rookie spinner Thandi Tshabalala, will join the squad next week from Australia where he is representing an emerging players team.
The South Africans begin the six-week tour with a three-day match in Colombo from Saturday.
The two back-to-back tests and the tri-series will also be played in Colombo.
The first Test will be held at the Sinhalese sports club from July 27-31 and the second at the Sara stadium from August 4-8.
The tri-series will be played at the Premadasa stadium and the Sinhalese sports club from August 14-29.
Sri Lanka are buoyant after a successful tour of England where they fought back to draw the Test series 1-1 and blanked the hosts 5-0 in the one-dayers.
Sri Lanka will, however, be without opening batsman and regular captain Marvan Atapattu, who is nursing a back injury. Mahela Jayawardena will lead the home team.
