Player bans the best deterrent: Katich

Former Test batsman Simon Katich believes officials must set a stern precedent if they're to avoid a repeat of the ugly scenes witnessed during the series opener in Durban.

David Warner and Quinton de Kock's altercation, in which Australia's vice-captain was physically restrained by teammates at tea on day four after allegedly being provoked by personal taunts from the South Africa wicketkeeper, remains the talk of the cricket world.

The International Cricket Council is yet to reveal any sanctions from the game, with the exception of Nathan Lyon being fined 15 per cent of his match fee for a send-off of AB de Villiers, however match referee Jeff Crowe has until midnight on Wednesday (AEDT) to level charges.

Crowe has already warned both camps about the need to play the game in the right spirit, however Katich believes lessons will be best learned via suspensions.

"The one thing the match referee has got the control to do is if they set a precedent, players will stop behaving like that," Katich said on SEN radio.

"At the moment it might take a one-Test ban for players to realise they can't behave like that, and then it would put it to bed.

"In the end the team that gets affected by a player missing out in a Test match is going to be very disappointed with their fellow teammate, and what will happen is the teammates will start to police these issues, rather than let them happen over and over again.

"Let's see what happens with the match referee and whether they're going to be stern enough to stamp this behaviour out."

The sport's governing body can also charge players, as was the case when ICC chief David Richardson booked du Plessis for using a mint to shine the ball in Hobart during South Africa's tour of Australia in 2016-17.

Katich predicted that anything other than a heavy hand from the ICC would lead to a recurrence of the aggro evident in Durban.

"The tit-for-tat stuff, if that doesn't get stamped out – you bet it's going to happen again," he said.

"We saw in this Test match South Africa fight back; they don't want to get rolled, they're on their home turf.

"We know how the Australians play; they like to play on the edge, so I think if the umpires aren't going to step in and deal with it straight away, and nip the personal abuse in the bud, then the match referee has to step in over them and lay a marker so this behaviour doesn't continue."

Crowe will remain in the hot seat for the second Test that starts in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

Ravi will be on third-umpire duty when South Africa attempt to level the series, with Dharmasena in control alongside Chris Gaffaney.

Qantas tour of South Africa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match: Australia beat South Africa A by five wickets. Report, highlights

First Test Australia won by 118 runs. Scorecard

Second Test St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, March 9-13. Live coverage

Third Test Newlands, Cape Town, March 22-26. Live coverage

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3. Live coverage