Former president Thabo Mbeki is taking legal action against advocate Willem Heath for defamation, City Press reported on Sunday.
Lawyers for both parties had been communicating about ways to resolve the dispute, according to the newspaper.
Mbeki declined to comment on the matter to City Press, and the paper was also unable to get hold of Heath.
In an interview in December, Heath accused Mbeki of initiating rape and corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma.
He said Mbeki and former national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka had conspired against Zuma. He said Judge Hilary Squires had wrongly convicted Zuma’s former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, of corruption.
In a statement issued after the interview, Mbeki rejected Heath’s allegations, saying: “They are devoid of all truth.”
Heath resigned 17 days into his tenure as Special Investigating Unit head in December 2011, following publication of the interview.
Mbeki’s spokesperson, Mukoni Ratshitanga, could not be reached for comment. — Sapa