The hosts were thumped by 340 runs in Nottingham earlier this month as the tourists levelled the four-match series in convincing fashion.
England have now had time to reflect on the disappointing display, and Durham all-rounder Stokes insists it was not due to a lack of desire.
"You take good performances and bad performances in your stride and I think it's all about how we come back in this Test which will prove how good of a side we are," he told Sky Sports News.
"Obviously, it wasn't an ideal performance from us as a team and we know that.
"It's good that we managed to get time away and sort of look back on and assess where we went wrong and hopefully we can right the wrongs this week.
"No-one's ever going to get questioned in that changing room about their fight and desire for wanting to perform for England."
England struggled with the bat last time out, making 205 in the first innings before being bowled out for just 133 in the second.
Despite the manner of the defeat, 26-year-old Stokes does not think momentum has shifted in South Africa's favour and Sky Bet make England 11/10 favourites, with South Africa 7/4 and the draw 100/30.
"It's 1-1, both games have been pretty one-sided and the team who won swapped around," said Stokes, a 10/1 chance to be man of the match and also 10s to get a century in the first innings.
"We've got two games left so we just need to make sure that we come out here and put in a better performance than we did at Trent Bridge and really take a front foot in the series.
"I think the biggest question is just being able to adapt better. We obviously didn't quite get to grips with that in that last innings so I think the quicker we can learn to adapt to different situations the better off we will be."
Stokes and his team-mates may be looking to take some inspiration from their female counterparts when they take to the field on Thursday.
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He managed to watch some of the Women's World Cup final on Sunday and was delighted to see England come out on top against India at Lord's.
"It's an amazing achievement for them to win a World Cup in England," he added. "It proves just how far the game has come for them. The amount of people that watched, the amount of coverage it gets.
"I actually ended up watching a bit of the game as well so it was great to see them go from not looking like they were going to win it to (win).
"It was amazing to watch and, being an Englishman myself, it's always good to see an English team lift the World Cup."
