The state's bid to prevent the release of the public protector's report into spending at President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead is over for now, but the possibility of further court action, over "security concerns", has not been ruled out.
On Friday, the state agreed to pay public protector Thuli Madonsela's legal costs in its abandoned interdict application.
The security cluster ministers of police, defence, public works and state security had sought an urgent interdict on November 8 against Madonsela to prevent her from releasing her provisional report into spending at Nkandla to interested and affected parties.
Government wanted an additional week to review the report, which it said was replete with security-sensitive information that could compromise the security of the president and the country.
Madonsela asked for a postponement, the state agreed, and the matter was delayed until Friday. With that de facto victory in hand, the state then abandoned its interdict bid, and Friday's court action was merely to decide who would pay costs in the matter.
The state, represented by a team of government spokespeople, agreed to pay Madonsela's legal bills in court.
No cover-up
Justice ministry spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga told reporters the government was not engaged in a cover-up over Nkandla.
"We would never stoop so low," Mhaga said. He said the state had no regrets over its court action and did not rule out the possibility of future legal action over the Nkandla report.
He said any future court action, like the interdict application, would be determined by state security concerns.
In court papers, Madonsela and the ministers locked horns over the report, which the state initially believed could not be released in its current form. The ministers gave no indication of whether or not their concerns had been addressed in the week since they first brought their application.
The ministers said the state security minister had the final say over the release of "classified or confidential" information in terms of the Protection of Information Act of 1982 (PIA).
Mhaga also denied the state was using apartheid-era legislation, like the PIA, to block the release of the report.