Congress of SA Trade Unions secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi will meet human rights commissioners on Tuesday to discuss the "shoot and kill" for Zuma comments he made that they feel he should retract.

SA Human Rights Commission spokesman Vincent Moaga said they would have a closed meeting at 11am.

Vavi made the comments at a funeral in June, shortly after similar remarks by ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema.

"So yes, because [ANC president] Jacob Zuma is one of us, and he is one of our leaders, for him, we are prepared to lay our lives (sic) and to shoot and kill," Vavi said.

Later, by way of explanation he said: "I said because Jacob Zuma is one of us and is one of our leaders, for him and for our revolution we are prepared to lay down our lives and for him we are prepared to shoot and kill."

On June 24, the commission gave Vavi two weeks to retract his statement, but, on the deadline, he asked for a meeting with them instead.

Cosatu has backed Vavi, saying he has no need to apologise. SA Communist Partly secretary general Blade Nzimande called the commission a "kangaroo court" for making threats against Malema and Vavi without giving them a chance to give their side of the story.

At a Youth Day rally in the Free State he said: "We are prepared to die for Zuma. We are prepared to take up arms and kill for Zuma."

Malema, who also exceeded the deadline for apology or retraction, told the commission he would never use the word "kill" again in public utterances.

However, he has elicited another complaint, this time from the Democratic Alliance, because he said the opposition party should be "eliminated" as counter-revolutionaries.

The commission is drawing on Section 10 of the Equality Act for its retraction call. This section speaks against pronouncements or communications that could be deemed as intending to incite violence.