The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will take action against President Jacob Zuma’s son Edward’s letter to former ministers Derek Hanekom and Pravin Gordhan, deemed to be promoting hate and racism.

The organisation said the letter was ”disturbing and a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression.”

”The commission will be seeking appropriate redress as empowered by the Constitution as well as the SAHRC Act. The commission is concerned by such statements being made within the broader context of hate speech, particularly on the basis of race, by individuals with a public platform,” said spokesperson Gushwell Brooks.

In the letter, published by various media houses on Wednesday, the younger Zuma accused Hanekom and Gordhan of being ”a sell-out minority in the ANC.”  He referred to Hanekom as ”a white monopoly capitalist offspring and an Afrikaner racist” and Gordhan as corrupt and ”white monopoly capital stooge.” The two ministers were fired by the president in March and replaced by Tokozile Xasa and Malusi Gigaba respectively.

Zuma is known for fiercely defending his father through open letters to the president’s purported detractors. He ended the letter by stating that he would soon reveal more on Hanekom ”in the next series of these open letters”.