Billy Masetlha, the former National Intelligence Agency (NIA) chief, appeared briefly in connection with contravening the Intelligence Services Act in the Hatfield Community Court, Pretoria, on Thursday.
His case was postponed to December 8 and 9, when he will make a plea.
Masetlha, the former director of the National intelligence Agency, was fired by President Thabo Mbeki in March following a hoax e-mail scandal.
This came after he refused to answer questions put to him by Intelligence Inspector General Zolile Ngcakani.
Ngcakani found that the e-mails — believed to be part of the African National Congress succession battle and which showed an abuse of state resources for party political ends — were a hoax.
Masetlha is challenging his dismissal from office.
After months of speculation that Masetlha would be charged for his role in the alleged fabrication of ”hoax” e-mails, he was last month only charged with failing to cooperate with investigations by Ngcakani.
In March, Inspector General Zolile Ngcakani published a report, which found that a secret NIA project, known as Project Avani and launched by Masetlha, amounted to an abuse of state of resources and threatened to undermine political party freedoms protected by the Constitution.
The report found that Project Avani has been established without informing the intelligence minister. It said the hoax e-mail scandal had created a climate of conspiracy at the NIA.
The report also said Masetlha had contravened regulations by irregularly outsourcing the gathering of the e-mail information. It said the e-mails were then used to direct NIA resources against alleged conspirators in an unprecedented monitoring campaign.
It said Masetlha kept tight control of access to the e-mails and resisted attempts to question their authenticity.