Temba Bavuma was the star of the day in Cape Town after he scored a maiden Test hundred, becoming the first black African to reach the feat for South Africa, before his team declared on 627, two runs shy of England's first-innings total in the second Test.
The Proteas began the day on 353-3 after Hashim Amla's unbeaten knock of 157 frustrated the tourists, who led by 488 runs before play began on day three.
England were put into bat for the final few overs of the evening session and managed to reach stumps unscathed on 16 runs, with Alastair Cook and Alex Hales unbeaten on eight and five runs respectively.
The tourists have an 18-run lead in the third Test, but they were frustrated once again with the ball as they recorded numerous drop-catches - the first of which was when James Anderson struggled to latch on to Faf du Plessis's drive.
Amla continued to impress as he brought up a double century with a single to mid-on and also became the first batsman in history to bat more than 11 hours in a Test innings three times.
The hosts, who reached lunch on 428-3, continued to control the day as Du Plessis hit a four in the afternoon session to ensure that his team avoided the follow-on.
Shortly after James Taylor dropped Amla on 201, England got some joy as Stuart Broad dislodged South Africa's top-scorer before Ben Stokes took out Du Plessis, who returned to the pavilion on 86 runs.
The momentum swung in England's direction as they took their third wicket of the day in the afternoon session when Quinton de Kock edged to Anderson off Broad's delivery, managing just five runs.
After a spell of dominance, South Africa found their rhythm after returning to the crease on 525-6 in the evening session as Chris Morris pulled up his Test 50 with a cover drive off Broad, but he added 19 runs before leaving the field.
After 10 drop catches, England managed to keep hold of the ball when Joe Root caught Morris's shot at short cover off Steven Finn's delivery.
Bavuma managed to keep thinks ticking, though, as he scored his first ever Test century and put his name in the history books.
After South Africa declared, Cook and Hales opened England's second innings and they will return to the crease on day five.
