Summary Skipper Michael Clarke and opener Ed Cowan combined to stem the flow of wickets.
Centuries by Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla and a top-order batting collapse by Australia put South Africa in a commanding position in the series-opening test on Sunday.
South Africa only needs to draw the three-match series to retain the No. 1 test ranking and is already pushing for a 1-0 lead after scoring 450 in its rain-interrupted first innings and then picking off David Warner (4), Rob Quiney (9) and Ricky Ponting (0) in the space of 25 minutes to have Australia reeling at 40-3 late on day three.
Skipper Michael Clarke (34 not out) and opener Ed Cowan (49 not out) combined to stem the flow of wickets, putting on an unbeaten 71 for the fourth wicket to take the hosts to stumps at 111 for three.
