Kagiso Rabada's appeal hearing against a Level 2 sanction which cost him three demerit points and a 50% fine of his Port Elizabeth match fee will take place on March 19. The ICC have appointed New Zealand's Michael Heron as the judicial commissioner and the hearing will be held via video conference.
Heron will have 48 hours to reach a decision, which means Rabada will learn his fate by Wednesday. If cleared, he could play in the Newlands Test that starts on Friday.
Heron is a judicial commissioner for New Zealand Rugby and SANZAAR, the body which operates rugby competitions between South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina. He is also a national commissioner for New Zealand Cricket and a member of the ICC's code of conduct commission and dispute resolution committee.
Rabada will be represented by high-profile South African advocate, Dali Mpofu.
Rabada was found guilty of making inappropriate and deliberate contact with Steven Smith after dismissing him in the first innings of the second Test between South Africa and Australia at St George's Park. After having Smith trapped lbw, Rabada screamed "yes, yes, yes" in the direction of Smith, and then made contact with his shoulder on his way to celebrating with team-mates. In the aftermath, Rabada maintained he did not feel any contact and would not have contested the charge if he had.
Rabada went into the fixture on five demerit points and the incident took him to eight, which equated to a two-Test ban. Rabada also earned a ninth demerit point when he gave David Warner a send-off in the second innings but did not contest that charge. That means if Rabada is cleared he will still have six demerit points to his name and will remain two away from a suspension.