The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has said it is investigating a complaint it received about social media utterances "glorifying" farm murders and which are directed against people based on their race.

Tasked with the constitutional mandate to protect, promote and monitor the attainment of human rights, the SAHRC says that it views every potential infringement of human rights with equal vigour.

"The rights to life, freedom and security of the person, equality and dignity are cornerstones of our constitutional democracy and thus hold a pre-eminent space in terms of the spectrum of rights. The Commission thus views any threats to any of these rights in an extremely serious light," the statement said.

"The Commission views the incitement or call for violence directed against persons on the basis of their race or any other prohibited basis as listed in the Constitution and the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000 in an extremely serious light and is investigating the matter."

It said that the safety of all South Africans needed to be safeguarded in the interests of social cohesion in the country, and that therefore, the State and its law enforcement agencies such as the South African Police Service (SAPS) needs to protect the citizens from crime – including crimes committed on farms.

"Utterances directed at glorifying these horrific crimes, especially those directed at particular groups on the basis of race, should have no place within South Africa," the Commission said.