Cape Town – The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has barred its national legal head, Buang Jones, from commenting on the Eben Etzebeth case while it investigates the official's conduct.
This comes as the Langebaan community is planning a march to the police station on Saturday against racism.
Jones has been slated over several controversial statements he allegedly made relating to the case, which is believed could prejudice the investigation.
At a community meeting at Langebaan last week, Jones said the commission did not care about the offender's prominence or standing in society, "whether you are Eben Etzebeth, Adam Catzavelos or Angelo Agrizzi".
"He always got away with it. But this time around, it stops here," he said to applause, News24 reported.
TimesLive also reported that Jones had reportedly said Etzebeth "was used to getting away with murder".
HRC chairperson Bongani Majola denied that the organisation was prejudiced against Etzebeth and would investigate Jones' comments, enca.com reported.
"We are very concerned about the statements allegedly made by Mr Jones. In the meantime we have said there should be no more media commentary on the case."
Enver Wilsnach, Yorayda Papier, Mogamad Smith and Kay Lee Brook claim in court papers that Etzebeth called them the H-word at a Langebaan restaurant on August 25. The incident allegedly also involved two men being pistol-whipped outside Die Watergat.
Before leaving for the Rugby World Cup, Etzebeth profusely denied the claims on social media and also visited the HRC offices just before his departure.
It's been reported that the quartet accusing Etzebeth of racism and assault want R1 million in compensation, ewn.co.za reported.
This was confirmed by the SAHRC, which is representing the four complainants in the Equality Court matter. The commission said it had evidence, including voice notes and video
Aside from monetary compensation, Jones said, the complainants wanted an apology to the coloured community.
Commenting on the march in Langebaan, Sammy Claassen, of the Khoisan Defiance Campaign, who laid the complaint, said in a statement: "It's a march for human rights against racism to insist that those implicated in the case be arrested.
"Both the DA and Freedom Front Plus have given their backing to Etzebeth and said it's okay for a white man to call coloured people 'h*tn*t' and to assault them."