South African president Jacob Zuma last week settled his libel case against the Guardian and accepted ‘substantial damages’ from the paper, according to Reuters.

Zuma began proceedings in March after publication of a piece by Simon Jenkins, which was subsequently removed from the Guardian website, suggested he was guilty of rape.

Zuma continued with a civil case against the Guardian newspaper, despite an apology run by the title in April.

The reference was the result of an editing error, the paper said in its apology – Zuma was acquitted of rape charges in 2006, it said.

But the apology was not deemed appropriate by Zuma’s lawyers. According to the Reuters’ report, the Guardian’s owners made an offer of damages in May, which was accepted by Zuma last week.