The winners survived an onslaught after being reduced to 13 players when scrum-half Charl McLeod and flank Keegan Daniel were sent to the sin bin late in the second half by South African referee Marius Jonker.
Sharks signed 28-year-old former France fly half Frederic Michalak from Toulouse this week, included him among seven replacements, but coach John Plumtree kept him on the bench, even when McLeod was yellow carded.
The erratic Sharks dug deep into their reserves of resilience on a chilly evening in this central city to first prevent Cheetahs getting too far ahead and then winning turnovers to gain the possession that brought two tries.
Success at Free State Stadium lifted the Durban team two places to fifth on the table with two rounds left - two points above defending champions Northern Bulls and four in front of the NSW Waratahs.
The Sharks have a tough run-in though, with games against the unpredictable Lions in Johannesburg and the Bulls in Pretoria and may need two victories to seal a top-six finish and a play-offs place.
"We took time to settle, but it was a great win given we often struggle in Bloemfontein," said Springbok captain Smit, who played at loosehead prop instead of his favoured hooker position to accommodate Bismarck du Plessis.
"There were some harsh words at half-time and you saw the difference during the second half. We applied a lot more pressure and won some good turnovers against a Cheetahs team that has grown remarkably this season."
After four consecutive wins, this was the second consecutive loss for the Bloemfontein team and they lie 11th on the table with a home fixture against South African conference leaders Stormers to come following a bye next weekend.
Sharks fly half Patrick Lambie opened the scoring with a penalty before the Cheetahs took control with a try from scrum-half Sarel Pretorius followed by two penalty goals from fly half Sias Ebersohn.
Another Lambie penalty closed the gap to 11-6 at half-time, but the Sharks were flattered given the amount of possession the Cheetahs had and the usually deadly Ebersohn missed a penalty and a conversion.
The second half provided a different story with the Sharks regularly on the front foot and Lambie converted tries by wings Lwazi Mvovo and JP Pieterson to give the Sharks a 23-11 advantage.
Cheetahs wing Riaan Viljoen snatched a try after the Sharks found themselves two men short and Ebersohn converted but by the time Lambie resumed play there were just 57 seconds left and neither team threatened to score.
Sharks: 23 (L Mvovo, JP Pietersen tries; P Lambie 2 cons, 3 pens)
Cheetahs: 18 (S Pretorius, R Viljoen tries; S Ebersohn con, 2 pens)
- AFP
Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-14, south-africa
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