Identification: Know what this is?

I took this pic in Durban, South Africa. The fungus is approximately 30cm across.

 

Hi @Sadie - thanks for posting your lovely find!
This is in the genus Ganoderma, and in a subset called "laccate" which basically means these are the shiny top conks.
I'm not sure which species ... I'll take a look in my S.A. region resources and see if it jumps out.
Sometimes tree type (hardwood or conifer, or even a specific type) can be helpful, if you know what it was.

 

Below is a Checklist of Ganoderma in South Africa i found in my files
... I realize you'd prefer an ID over a list, but I'm in the pacific northwest of North America, so most of my knowledge and resources are for my region
I don't have any resource that offer photos and species descriptions for SA

Your list of options is much shorter than this, partly as some of these will be non-laccate / non-shiny, and some will be visibly very unlike yours.

1. annulare;"(Fr.) Gilb.";PREM;;
2. applanatum;"(Pers.) Pat.";PREM;Yes;
3. aridicola;"J.H. Xing & B.K. Cui";;;"Xing et al. 2016"
4. austroafricanum;"Coetzee
5. chilense;"(Fr.) Pat.";PREM;;
6. colossus;"Fr.) C.F. Baker";PREM;;
7. cf. cupreum;"(Sacc.) Bres.";;;"Tchotet et al. 2019"
8. curtisii;"(Berk.) Murrill";PREM;;
9. destructans;"M.P.A. Coetzee
10. dunense;"Tchotet
11. eickeri;"Tchotet
12. eminii;Henn.;PREM;;
13. cf. cupreum;"(Sacc.) Bres";;;"Tchotet et al. 2019"
14. enigmaticum;"M.P.A. Coetzee
15. fulvellum;Bres.;PREM;;
16. hildebrandii;Henn.;PREM;;
17. knysnamense;"Tchotet
18. lucidum;"(Curtis) P. Karst.";PREM;Yes;
19. mastoporum;"(Lév.) Pat.";PREM;;
20. mollicarnosum;"(Lloyd) Sacc. & Trotter";PREM;;
21. nigrolucidum;"(Lloyd) D.A. Reid";PREM;;
22. oerstedii;"(Fr.) Torrend";PREM;;
23. oregonense;Murrill;PREM;;
24. oroflavum;"(Lloyd) C.J. Humphrey";PREM;;
25. resinaceum;Boud.;PREM;Yes;"Tchotet et al. 2019"
26. tornatum;"(Pers.) Bres.";PREM;;
27. zonatum;Murrill;PREM;;

 

Thank you Frog! Even narrowing it down this much is already a huge help, I had no idea where to even begin. I'll take it from here with researching the identification, and let you know when I've worked it out. The really interesting thing about this particular specimen, aside from it's huge size, is that it wasn't growing against a tree at all. It actually grew out of a cinderblock in a retaining wall.

 

After careful checking, I'm pretty sure that the specimen is Ganoderma lucidum. Which is even more wild, because that's not a native species to South Africa at all, apparently! I hope it's not too invasive.

 

There must be some damp wood behind the cinderblocks. Ganoderma only grows on wood.

 

I checked iSpot to see the prevalence of Ganoderma Lucidum in Africa generally and South Africa specifically and see that the latest observation is a picture of the same fungi in the same cinder block wall. Confirmed on iSpot as Ganoderma Lucidum.
observations
And then came across this article describing G.lucidum as native to Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana (perhaps it has expanded its range along with cultivated gardens into South Africa?). Quite fascinating to see the potential of this fungi in treatment of many challenging diseases.
PMC9441938

 

Ah good sleuthing Derek, I see what you mean! Not only same mushroom but same photo!
Sadie you might want to contact ClarkKellison and ensure they give you photo credit.