Centurion: England was all out for 342 on Sunday and 133 runs behind after Kagiso Rabada took seven wickets to put South Africa in control of the fourth and final test.
Rabada rattled through England's top and middle order for his career-best 7-112, leaving England well behind soon after tea on the third day at SuperSport Park.
Rabada took five of his wickets on Sunday, including three in a two-over burst just before lunch. Following a brief rain delay, he got the dangerous Ben Stokes for 33 in the afternoon to a flying edge to first slip with the new ball.
Moeen Ali was last man out for 61 to give England some fight at the end of its innings.
Alastair Cook and Joe Root both made 76, but departed in the first session and England struggled against Rabada's pace and movement all through an overcast day at Centurion. Rabada, in just his sixth test, had put South Africa in position for a desperately-needed win to regain some lost pride.
England has already clinched the four-match series with a 2-0 lead ahead of this last test. South Africa, now knocked off the top of the test rankings, hasn't won in its last nine tests before this one.
Rabada removed Root, and then James Taylor and Jonny Bairstow - all in the 15 minutes before lunch. England lost four wickets in total in the morning session, starting with captain Cook when he edged behind off Morne Morkel.
That broke a 99-run partnership between Cook and Root, and the 20-year-old Rabada then raced to his five-wicket haul when he had Root out to a thin edge behind, and got Taylor and Bairstow in his next over, the last before lunch. That spell saw him take three wickets for three runs in four overs.
It gave Rabada five-wicket hauls in back-to-back tests following his 5-78 in England's win in the third test in Johannesburg.
After a quick rain shower, Stokes was winding up in typical fashion, and had battered a six into the sightscreen over long-off to go with his five fours. He was angry with himself when he went after a ball that nipped away from him from Rabada, and Hashim Amla held the catch at slip.
Part-time spinner JP Duminy broke a 43-run stand between Ali and Chris Woakes when Woakes edged and it rebounded off wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock and was held by Dean Elgar at slip. Rabada's seventh was Stuart Broad, who was caught on the boundary.
Ali hit 11 fours in a fine counterattack from No. 8, avoiding a much worse fate for England after it was 211-6 when he arrived. With only last man James Anderson left, Ali was caught in the deep seeking more runs at the end.
Earlier, Cook, who needed an innings of 117 to become the first Englishman to 10,000 test runs, never got going in the overcast conditions that loomed for the entire morning session in Centurion. He added just nine runs to his overnight score before prodding at a Morkel delivery and edging to wicketkeeper De Kock. Cook is now 41 runs short of 10,000, with a chance to reach the landmark in his second innings.
Root showed more enterprise, hitting three fours in an over early on when he was also missed at gully. Root registered his third half-century of the series, to go with his hundred in Johannesburg.
He had also survived, via an umpire decision review, after being given out to a catch behind off spinner Dane Piedt. But he fell in the third over before lunch when Rabada produced just enough outswing to find an edge to De Kock.
Rabada steamed in next over and dismissed Taylor - caught behind trying to hook - and then got rid of Bairstow for a duck, caught behind again off the glove.
South Africa's biggest problem of the day was a hamstring problem for seamer Kyle Abbott, who may not be able to bowl in England's second innings.
