South Africa were all out for 255, 21 runs short of avoiding the follow-on, on the last day of the third and final Test against Australia in Sydney on Sunday.
Australia enforced the follow-on with a lead of 220 and need 10 wickets for a series clean sweep.
Josh Hazlewood broke open the lower order resistance with the wickets of Keshav Maharaj (53) and Simon Harmer (47). He finished with four for 48.