The tourists resumed on 11-1 needing a distant 364 but two wickets fell in the first 13 overs before Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott calmly shared 145.
But Pietersen (81) inexplicably called for a run and Trott stood his ground.
Trott made 69 before debutant Friedel de Wet struck three times as five fell for 13 but Graham Onions kept out the final over as England closed on 228-9.
Having slumped to 27-3, the fourth-wicket partnership left all results still possible at the tea interval, with 195 needed from the remaining 35 overs.
Even after Pietersen's needless dismissal, Trott's resolute fifty, to add to his century on his debut in the final Ashes Test last summer, looked to have guided England to a comfortable draw. Such was the dominance of England's South African-born pair that Smith called on Jacques Kallis to send down three experimental overs despite not being fully fit following a rib injury.
There were few alarms until Pietersen pushed a single without even looking at his startled partner and arrived at the non-striker's end whilst Trott was still bellowing a refusal of the run.
Bowler De Wet simply gathered the ball and took off the bails in mid-stride and suddenly it looked a different game.The final over was given to Makhaya Ntini, in his 100th Test, but Onions defended resolutely, keeping out one that crept low and would have defeated many a top order player, and England escaped to ensure the series heads to Durban for the Boxing Day Test with the series still 0-0.
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