Thomas Aiken and Trevor Fisher Jr put themselves in pole position to challenge for a maiden European Tour victory after ending round three of the Africa Open on 16 under par - a one-stroke lead over the rest of the field.
The South Africa duo carded rounds of 69 and 71 respectively to lead from little-known countryman Jbe' Kruger, out on his own at 15 under, while one of the pre-tournament favourites Charl Schwartzel and Jake Roos, who carded the lowest score of the round with 66, were a further shot back.
Miles Tunnicliff was the highest-placed European in the field - the Englishman adding an impressive 67 to his opening two scores of 68 and 71 - but Ireland's Darren Clarke was not as fortunate, enduring a costly final hole.
The Ulsterman, who was looking well on course to end the day at least four shots behind the leaders after heading to the par-four 18 at five under for the round and without a blemish on his card, faltered badly at the final tee.
He pulled his tee shot left into the rough, took two chip shots to get out of it and then two-putted for a triple-bogey seven to end with a disappointing 71 and end the day at nine under overall.
Michael Hoey is seven under after a 72.
Richard Sterne of South Africa, another leading contender for the title, was also on nine-under-par after a level par 73, with James Kingston two shots better off after his 71.
The co-leaders, though, will be pleased with their efforts in the co-sanctioned European and Sunshine Tour event, especially Aiken, who finished his round at the East London Golf Club with three birdies in his last four holes to storm into contention.
"I haven't won a main Tour event yet, so that would be a nice thing to get under my belt," he said after following 67s on the first two days with another solid display. "It's something I've been looking to do for a while now."
And he was relishing the prospect of his playing partner being long-time friend Fisher Jr, a who has been on the top of the leaderboard from day one after his rounds of 66, 66 and 71.
He added: "I've known Trevor since we were 12, we are very good friends. Not only that, he caddied for me last year at the CA Championships in Miami, which for me was a big turning point in my career.
"So it's going to be an awesome day tomorrow to get to play with him and hopefully we can go out there have fun and relax one another."
Tunnicliff was also pleased to keep his chances alive.
"I played really solid today and got the putter going nicely, which hasn't happened for quite a while.
"So it was nice to see a few putts roll in. The wind's getting up a bit now, so we'll be close in there for tomorrow."
Collated third round scores & totals; (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 73, Irish in bold):
203Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 67 67 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 66 66 71
204Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 69 68 67
205Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 67 70 68, Jake Roos (Rsa) 68 71 66
206Bradford Vaughan (Rsa) 69 67 70, Miles Tunnicliff 68 71 67
207TC Charamba (Zim) 72 67 68, Chris Swanepoel (Rsa) 71 68 68, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 70 66 71, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 68 70, George Coetzee (Rsa) 68 72 67, James Morrison 68 70 69, Dawie Van Der Walt (Rsa) 73 68 66, Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 69 70 68, Marco Ruiz (Par) 69 70 68, Keith Horne (Rsa) 67 67 73
208Titch Moore (Rsa) 66 72 70, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 68 73 67, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 66 67 75, James Kingston (Rsa) 68 69 71, Anthony Michael (Rsa) 71 70 67, Peter Baker 70 70 68, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 70 71 67, Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 69 69 70, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 72 69 67, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 74 66 68
209Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 68 72 69, Sion Bebb 70 68 71, Benn Barham 71 70 68, Doug McGuigan 74 67 68, Neil Schietekat (Rsa) 69 69 71, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 69 71 69
210Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 70 69, Joost Luiten (Ned) 69 71 70, Branden Grace (Rsa) 70 70 70, Jaco Van zyl (Rsa) 69 68 73, Darren Clarke 69 70 71, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 72 67 71, Charl Coetzee (Rsa) 68 69 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 66 71 73
211Brandon Pieters (Rsa) 72 69 70, Matthew Zions (Aus) 72 69 70, Andre Cruse (Rsa) 68 71 72, Louis De Jager (Rsa) 69 68 74, Deane Pappas (Rsa) 68 68 75, Oliver Fisher 70 70 71
212Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa) 67 71 74, Jacques Blaauw (Rsa) 69 70 73, Sam Hutsby 68 71 73, Prinavin Nelson (Rsa) 71 69 72, Tyrone Mordt (Rsa) 70 70 72, Scott Hend (Aus) 72 69 71, Justin Walters (Rsa) 68 68 76, Michael Hoey 68 72 72
213Thabang Simon (Rsa) 70 71 72, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 69 68 76, Julien Quesne (Fra) 71 67 75, Steven O'Hara 71 70 72
214Reggie Adams (Rsa) 70 71 73, Paulo Pinto (Arg) 69 70 75, Garry Houston 69 71 74, Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 72 73, Mark f Haastrup (Den) 66 75 73
215Desvonde Botes (Rsa) 70 70 75, Willie Van Der Merwe (Rsa) 71 70 74
216Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 72 67 77