The clock is ticking for Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema to backtrack and apologise for making anti-white statements that may constitute hate speech.

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has found that parts of Malema's recent speech amounted to "incitement of violence, hate speech and possibly other transgression of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act".

The commission has given Juju just 10 days to make a public apology or the matter will be escalated to the Equality Court.

During the EFF Provincial People's Assembly in the Western Cape in October, Malema made reference to an incident at the Brackenfell High School last year where a white person was filmed beating an EFF member.

Malema asked why the person has not yet been captured and taken to "an isolated space" to "attend to the guy properly".

"You must never be scared to kill, a revolution demands that at some point there must be killing, because the killing is part of a revolutionary act.

"Anything that stands in the way of the revolution must be eliminated."

The HRC has also taken issue with posters and banners at the event carried by EFF members, and printed with EFF insignia.

The messages on the posters read: "Honeymoon is over for white people in South Africa" and

"A revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate."

In a statement, EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said the party will not retract or apologise because the HRC did not give the EFF an opportunity to present its arguments before making its ruling.

"Laws of natural justice demand that institutions like the commission must hear both sides before making a determination.

"We will therefore not meet the 10-day deadline of the commission or apologise until we are listened to by a neutral body."

Malema recently won a hate speech case against AfriForum when the South Gauteng High Court found the singing of struggle era song "Ayesaba Amagwala" was not tantamount to hate speech or inciting violence.