South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), on Wednesday filed papers at the Western Cape High Court against President Jacob Zuma allegedly using state money to upgrade his private home.
"After exhausting all parliamentary processes to hold the president to account for the theft of public funds at Nkandla, it has become necessary to approach the courts to do so," Xinhua quoted DA as saying.
The move comes after the National Assembly on Tuesday adopted a police report on the issue which said Zuma was not liable to repay money spent on security upgrades to his personal residence.
Leader of the DA, Mmusi Maimane, criticised Zuma for designating Police Minister Nathi Nhleko who he said "owes his job to the president" to rule on the case.
The upgrades that allegedly cost some 19 million US dollars were said to be "security features", but the opposition and Public Protector Thuli Madonsela argued that there were "non-security" improvements, demanding the repayment of part of the money.