Ricky Ponting acknowledges Australia have to "execute perfectly tomorrow" if they are to pull off the great escape.
The Proteas go into the final day needing another 153 runs with all 10 second-innings wickets remaining to clinch a 2-0 series win ahead of the final game in Sydney.
If Australia were to lose, it would be their first home series defeat in 16 years and Ponting is aware his side need to pull out all the stops on day five.
"Whenever we've got wickets against them we've got them in pretty quick succession," Ponting said.
"We have to make sure we just execute perfectly tomorrow which is one area we probably haven't done as well as the South Africans in the first two games.
"That's the only option we've got. We've got to get out there and give it our best shot for as long as it takes tomorrow and hopefully hand us some chances and have some luck and we'll see what happens.
"We've all got to dig as deep as we can tomorrow to dislodge a few of their batsmen and get a few nerves through their change room."
Ponting is hoping he will be able to call on Brett Lee tomorrow despite the paceman struggling with a foot injury.
Lee's fitness will be monitored throughout tonight and Tuesday morning but the team's medical staff are hopeful the 32-year-old can draw on his famed courage to help Australia pull off a remarkable victory.
"It has flared up really quickly and we hope it will plateau now a little bit, just enough to give us the chance to get a few more overs out of him tomorrow," Ponting said.
South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn - who claimed his second five-wicket haul of the game today, a day after making a priceless 76 - rubbished suggestions the Proteas' nerves would hamper their ambitions.
The tourists do have a record of struggling to get over the line against Australia, most famously in the 1999 World Cup after a tied semi-final.
That came days after Steve Waugh's famous "you've just dropped the World Cup" line to Herschelle Gibbs in a Super Six match the Proteas lost after being well on top.
Steyn said: "Many of the guys that are on this tour have never lost to Australia apart from a couple of senior players.
"So there's a fresh group of players out here who are not really worried about the history.
"We're more worried about the way we play cricket and what we've come to achieve on this tour and how we're going to get there is most important for us.
"We're not really fazed by what's happened in the past, what people think or what they say. We know what our job is and we know how to get there and we'll keep doing that."
Steyn was surprised at how easy his wickets came today as the home side limped to 247 all out.
Of Australia's top seven, only Andrew Symonds and Michael Hussey were not guilty of rash strokes.
Steyn, who claimed five for 67 to go with his five for 87 in the first innings, said: "I think the way that the Aussies play they really like to have the scoreboard ticking over and they like to see boundaries flow.
"And they've got those kind of players who you always feel that even though you're going at four an over you always feel there will be chances somewhere along the line.
"If you can build up enough pressure, even with an old ball, a bad shot will come along the way.
"I've got to be honest, I don't think even in Perth I bowled at my best and I was gifted a couple of wickets.
"I was gifted probably someone like Michael Clarke's wicket today. It was a really old ball, bad ball, off the back foot, caught at cover - really it's a gift.
"That ball could have easily gone for four."
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