Australia's stand-in captain Tim Paine has revealed Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft are going through emotional turmoil following a "strange, horrible 24 hours" after admitting to their role in the ball-tampering scandal that has rocked Australian cricket.

Smith was stood down as Australia captain for the remainder of the third Test against South Africa, which the tourists lost by 322 runs overnight in Cape Town, before being handed a one-match ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Australia vice-captain David Warner was also removed from his position on the fourth day in Cape Town.

The ICC did not ban Bancroft, instead punishing his ball-tampering charge with a hefty fine and three demerit points.

Smith confessed he helped authorise the illegal practice of ball tampering on day three, while Bancroft admitted to the offence and was charged by match officials.

At lunch on Saturday (local time), players hatched the idea of cheating with yellow sticky tape, which they hoped would capture debris from the pitch and scuff one side of the ball in an attempt to get it to reverse swing.

Paine, who was appointed interim captain, said both Smith and Bancroft were trying to come to terms with the ramifications of the scandal.

"They're not great. It's been a horrible 24 hours, they're struggling but probably the reality and the enormity of what's happened is starting to sink in," Paine said.

"Maybe some did [underestimate how bad it was]. I don't think we all would have expected this to be as big as it has been and particularly the fallout that we have seen from back home.

"The reality and enormity of it has sunk in."

Paine would not be drawn on whether Smith and Australia coach Darren Lehmann should continue in their posts.

"That's I think something that might come up this week," he said.

"But there's an internal review that's going to take place in the next few days and until that's happened, no-one will be making any comment on anything like that."

Paine also would not entertain the prospect of replacing Smith in a full-time capacity.

"There'll be a review this week. I'm not sure what's going to happen," he said.

"I don't think anyone is, so it's an impossible question to answer.

"Not the circumstances that anyone would like to be sitting here. Really bizarre, strange, horrible 24 hours."

Du Plessis understanding of Smith's position

South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis chose his words wisely in Cape Town when asked about Smith's likely mindset amid the ball-tampering furore.

Du Plessis pleaded guilty to the charge of ball tampering in a 2013 Test. He rubbed the ball on the zipper of his pants pocket and umpires awarded a five-run penalty against the Proteas.

He maintained his innocence in 2016, when footage emerged of him using a mint to help shine the ball during a Test against Australia in Hobart but never beat the charge of ball tampering.

Du Plessis still has the resultant three demerit points on his record from 'mintgate'.

"I can understand it's a really tough time for him to be in right now," du Plessis said.

"Obviously the situation I was in was really difficult for me as well. Because people were attacking me, my personality and my character.

"And I felt it was wrong. It wasn't fair. I don't know he feels about his own situation.

"Ball shining versus ball tampering, they're two very different situations. One is definitely much more serious than the other."

Du Plessis, generally forthright in his dealings with the media, was relatively diplomatic when asked whether Smith cheated.

"It's difficult for me to answer. What he did is against the ICC rule book. He knows that, he's owned up to it," he said.

"It's not right to do that but he's put his hand up and I suppose now he can try and move forward and the Australian team are going to try and move forward.

"He's trying to take responsibility, so there's right in that."

Du Plessis was not surprised by how Smith's compatriots back home reacted to the indiscretion.

"When I was in Australia it felt like the same. I was being followed everywhere I went," du Plessis said.

Calls for Smith and Bancroft to be sent home

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has put pressure on Cricket Australia (CA) to remove Bancroft and Smith from the tour party in South Africa.

ASC chairman John Wylie said the behaviour of Smith and Bancroft was such they, "should have been on the first plane home yesterday".

"If an athlete had been representing Australia in an Olympic Games and they had brought the country and the team into disrepute, that's what would have happened to them," Wylie told the ABC.

"We think it's right and appropriate that Cricket Australia does take decisive action, further action beyond what the International Cricket Council has done to ensure that Australians are proud of their cricket team."

Wylie said the ball-tampering incident was further evidence Australia needed an overhaul of its team culture.

"Typically, they're the product of cultural problems that exist, and I think there have been cultural problems in the Australian team for some time," he said.

"The aggressive sledging that we see from the team from time to time I don't think sets a good tone for ... representatives of Australian sport, and in most other modern workplaces, that sort of behaviour would be called bullying."

CA has sent its head of integrity, Iain Roy, and team performance manager Pat Howard to Cape Town to investigate the circumstances behind the ball-tampering incident.