Schaper, who was in a three-way tie for the lead after a first-round 65, separated himself on Saturday with another fine round, a five-under-par 67 lifting him to 12-under for the tournament, going into Sunday’s final round.

Two birdies and a bogey on the front nine saw Schaper reach the turn just one-under, but he blossomed on the back nine with four birdies to pull away from the field.

“I had a steady start, I was hitting the ball well and I just left a couple of putts in the jaws of the hole. But I just stayed patient and it was pretty much another solid all-round game. It was more difficult today, the wind was up and that makes the course a lot tougher,” Schaper said.

But Mazibuko is on nine-under-par, tied in second place with Richard Joubert (69), and he still has six holes to play when the second round resumes at 7am on Sunday.

The 34-year-old from Bloemfontein Golf Club is three-under for his round, all three birdies coming on the front nine.

Schaper will be chasing his first Sunshine Tour title on Sunday, with the final round being played to a two-tee, three-ball format. The 21-year-old enjoyed a prolific amateur career and it will be remembered that he was touted as South African golf’s next big thing when he finished second in the 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.

“I guess there will be some added pressure, but I’ll be saying to myself that there is no difference between a Sunshine Tour event or an amateur tournament. It’s the same as any round of golf.

“Playing at my home course at Ebotse will also keep me calm because I know the course well. I’m looking forward to it, I’m going to enjoy it and if it’s my day then I’ll take it,” Schaper said.

The other first-round leaders went backwards on the second day, with Ockie Strydom shooting a level-par 72 and staying on seven-under, which is now in a tie for fifth, while Clinton Grobler is four-over-par through 12 holes, having double-bogeyed his last two holes to be nine shots off the pace.

SCORES AT THE END OF SUSPENDED ROUND 2

-12 - Jayden Schaper 65 67

-9 - Richard Joubert 66 69, Makhetha Mazibuko 66 (-3) [12]

-8 - Dan Erickson 66 70

-7 - Bradley Bawden 69 68, Ockie Strydom 65 72

-6 - Hennie Otto 66 72, Quintin Wilsnach 68 70, Pieter Moolman 68 (-2) [9]

-5 - Steve Surry 70 69, Jaco Van Zyl 70 (-3) [9], Doug McGuigan 71 (-4) [9]

-4 - Matthew Spacey 69 71, Clancy Waugh 69 71, Kyle De Beer 66 74, Albert Venter 70 70, Jean Hugo 70 70, Kyle Barker 70 (-2) [12], Joe Long 69 (-1) [9], Wynand Dingle 67 (+1) [9], Stephen Ferreira 68 (Par) [9], Toto Thimba Jnr 69 (-1) [6]

-3 - Jacques Blaauw 73 68, Ryan Van Velzen 70 71, Martin Rohwer 70 71, MJ Viljoen 72 69, Sean Bradley 70 71, Christiaan Burke 70 (-1) [12], Clinton Grobler 65 (+4) [12], Peter Karmis 70 (-1) [12], Dylan Naidoo 70 (-1) [9], Kyle McClatchie 70 (-1) [9]

-2 - Siyanda Mwandla 67 75, Fredrik From 69 73, Keenan Davidse 70 72, Luke Jerling 72 70, Nikhil Rama 72 70, Keelan van Wyk 71 71, Wade Jacobs 67 (+3) [12], Dylan Mostert 71 (-1) [9], Jonathan Broomhead 69 (+1) [9], Heinrich Bruiners 72 (-2) [9], Ruan Korb 71 (-1) [9], Anthony Michael 68 (+2) [9], Madalitso Muthiya 73 (-3) [9], Neil Schietekat 70 (Par) [9], Sean Cronje 70 (Par) [9], Thabang Simon 69 (+1) [6]

-1 - Vaughn van Deventer 73 70, Wallie Coetsee 70 73, Ulrich van den Berg 72 71, Malcolm Mitchell 71 72, Jaco Prinsloo 70 73, Kevin Rhoderick 69 (+2) [12], Adam Breen 70 (+1) [12], Jbe' Kruger 71 (Par) [9], Christiaan Basson 70 (+1) [9]

Missed the cut:-

Par - Callum Mowat 69 75, Keagan Thomas 68 76, Stefan Wears-Taylor 72 72, Merrick Bremner 72 72, Samuel Simpson 71 (+1) [12], Rhys West 72 (Par) [12], Harry Konig 70 (+2) [12], Martin Vorster 71 (+1) [12], Rourke van der Spuy 71 (+1) [9], JJ Senekal 73 (-1) [9], Andre Van Dyk 75 (-3) [9], Mandla Dlamini Jnr 71 (+1) [6]

+1 - Adriel Poonan 71 74, Danie Van Niekerk 71 74, Jared Harvey 71 74, Riekus Nortje 72 73, James Kamte 68 77, Jake Redman 72 (+1) [12], Erhard Lambrechts 74 (-1) [12], Louis Albertse 74 (-1) [9], Luca Filippi 73 (Par) [9], Combrinck Smit 74 (-1) [9], Therion Nel 71 (+2) [9], Clayton Mansfield 73 (Par) [6], Gerard du Plooy 73 (Par) [6]

+2 - Joshua Seale 73 73, Michael Kok 72 74, Ruan de Smidt 73 73, Michael Hollick 73 73, James Mack 73 (+1) [12], Michael Palmer 70 (+4) [9]

+3 - Divan van den Heever 70 77, Benjamin Follett-Smith 78 (-3) [6], Jordan Duminy 74 (+1) [6]

+4 - Brooklin Bailey 73 75, Keith Horne 69 79, Brody Harbinson 75 73, Aneurin Gounden 70 78, Irvin Mazibuko 77 (-1) [12], Desvonde Botes 70 (+6) [12], Hennie O'Kennedy 72 (+4) [12], Gerrit Foster 76 (Par) [6], Mutahi Kibugu 76 (Par) [6], Lincon Denzy Cele 76 (Par) [6]

+5 - Chris Cannon 76 73, Rupert Kaminski 70 79, Herman Loubser 71 78, Jastice Mashego 72 77, Brandon-Jude Rennie 76 73, Musiwalo Nethunzwi 75 74, Tumelo Molloyi 77 (Par) [12], Shaahid Mahmed 77 (Par) [12]

+6 - Keelan Africa 76 74

+7 - Tristin Galant 73 78, Franklin Manchest 74 77, Brian Gondo 81 70, Leon Vorster 74 77, Steven Le Roux 77 74, Thanda Mavundla 74 (+5) [12], Hayden Griffiths 76 (+3) [9], Lindani Ndwandwe 75 (+4) [6]

+8 - Maverick Faber 76 76, CJ du Plessis 75 (+5) [12]

+9 - Ruan Conradie 70 83, Paul Boshoff 70 83, James Pennington 79 (+2) [6], Chris Swanepoel 79 (+2) [6]

+10 - Lyle Rowe 78 76, Andre De Decker 74 80

+11 - Jovan Rebula 78 77, Estiaan Conradie 73 82, Henning du Plooy 74 81

+13 - Gareth Sargent 82 (+3) [6]

+14 - Sipho Bujela 83 75, Evance Vukeya 81 77

+17 - Lwazi Gqira 86 (+3) [12]

WDN - Jacquin Hess 82 WDN

RTD - Yubin Jung RTD RTD, Dean O'Riley 76 RTD [6]

DSQ - Dwayne Basson 78 DSQ