Edward Zuma and his wife
Edward Zuma and his wife
Edward Zuma has been forced to cough up R60 000 by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), following racially divisive comments he made about Pravin Gordhan and Derek Hanekom.
Jacob Zuma’s son wrote a venomous open letter in July 2017, attacking the ANC’s most vocal critics of the former leader.
What did Edward Zuma say about Gordhan, Hanekom?
He spewed hateful sentiments regarding Gordhan’s “inferiority complexes” to his white colleagues, then went on to call Hanekom a “white Afrikaner askari.”
Immediately, the SAHRC made their opposition to his comments clear. They labelled his outburst as “race-based hate speech” that was in violation of the constitution:
“The Commission has become aware of an open letter purported to have been authored by Mr Edward Zuma.”
“The Commission finds the contents of this letter‚ in particular statements that promote hatred on the basis of race offensive and disturbing and a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression as articulated in section 16 of the Constitution.”
Today was Edward Zuma’s day in the dock. Or at least, it was meant to be. Before proceedings could begin at the Equality Court in Durban, Zuma junior met with the SAHRC to draw-up a settlement figure.
The Commission and both parties agreed that Edward must pay R60 000 in damages. In fact, the money he’s paying will be donated to impoverished schools in KwaZulu-Natal:
#EdwardZuma The amount that has been settled on is R60 000. The lawyer representing SAHRC Pavershree Padayachee says they would like the payment to be made to a poor school in Howick. Zuma’s lawyer Ayanda Mkhwanazi says they had planned to donate to Ohlange High School in Inanda.
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) May 22, 2018
Magistrate Irfaan Khalil ordered that R30 000 would be paid to each school. How nice is that? Despite the acrimonious circumstances, this outcome is a hard one to begrudge.
