Thomas Aiken and his one-time caddie Trevor Fisher shared the Africa Open third-round lead on Saturday as South Africans tightened their grip on the European Tour event.

A four-under-par 69 left Aiken on 203 at the 6,038-metre East London Golf Club while Fisher carded a 71 in the hunt for first prize at the one million euro tournament.

Jbe Kruger (67) is alone in second position on 204 and two more South Africans, Jake Roos (66) and Charl Schwartzel (68), are a further shot off the pace at the links-cum-parkland course.

Englishman Miles Tunnicliff (67) is the leading overseas player and lies three strokes behind the leaders with another South African, Bradford Vaughan (70), in this eastern Cape city.

The first two South Africa-Europe co-sanctioned events last month on the 2010 Road to Dubai were won by Spaniard Pablo Martin and Scot Richie Ramsay, neither of whom competed in East London.

Crowd favourite Darren Clarke from Northern Ireland returned a disappointing 71 for a 210 total after a triple-bogey-seven finish to his round and has little chance of bettering a second-place finish last year.

It will be a friendly rivalry when the leaders tee off Sunday in the final round as Fisher caddied for Aiken in a Miami tournament last year and their friendship spans two decades.

Fisher, who entered the third round one shot ahead, is not enjoying much luck off the course as he nearly overslept before the second round and was rocked by a stomach bug Saturday.

The Johannesburg-born golfer rested in his car before teeing off, hit only six greens in regulation, and still managed to card a two-under round because he needed a mere 22 putts.