EFF leader Julius Malema and Pravin Gordhan will face off in the Equality Court today following Malema’s scathing attack on the Public Enterprises Minister.

This comes after Malema addressed a crowd of EFF supporters outside the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture chaired by Justice Raymond Zondo in November, last year.

In that address, he referred to Gordhan as a “dog of white monopoly capital (WMC)” and further requested fighters to be “ready for war” against the Public Enterprises minister.

He also took aim at Gordhan’s daughter over contracts involving Anisha, saying they were allegedly awarded by National Treasury and other government departments, seemingly as a result of her father’s position in government.

As a result, the Minister of Public Enterprises lodged two complaints against Malema and his deputy Floyd Shivambu with the South African Police Service (SAPS), as well as at the Equality Court.

Gordhan’s lawyer Tebogo Malatji confirmed to News24 that he laid charges of criminal defamation and crimen injuria against the EFF leader and would be seeking damages of R150 000.

The minister is of the view that the statements made by the EFF leaders constitute hate speech as contemplated by the Equality Act because they were intended to be hurtful, incite harm and promote hatred.

If successful, the damages claimed would be donated to a charitable organisation that supported job creation for unemployed youth, News 24 earlier reported.