ANC president Jacob Zuma has dropped the largest portion of his multiple defamation suits against newspapers and radio stations.

He had accused the media of tarnishing his image in the run-up to the party's national conference in Polokwane.

To this effect, he was claiming about R64-million.

However, Zuma maintains that his dignity was impaired and has instructed his lawyers to continue with civil action to extract about R12-million from individuals and media groups.

In a statement released yesterday by his spokesperson for his legal battle against the media, Liesl Göttert, Zuma claims that "it has never been about money".

"It is about principle. Freedom of speech is an important cornerstone for a free and democratic South Africa," the statement reads.

Zuma goes on to claim that, as a politician, his reputation is of "paramount importance because one is not supported if one is not respected".

"It was important for me to make the relevant media understand that there are rules that they have to play by, even if it concerns politicians," he explains.

Having trounced President Thabo Mbeki at the party's national conference in Polokwane, Zuma now feels that the damage to his reputation may not have been so bad after all.

"As time went by, it became clear that although certain people had probably been influenced negatively, the people who know me were not fooled by the propaganda against me.

"From my interaction with people and reports made to me I experienced that the media attacks on me were apparently not as successful as was expected by my detractors," he explains.

Significantly, Zuma points out that, in May last year, he even told a journalist of his impression to this effect.

Having probably undermined his own defamation claims by stating that his reputation was in fact intact, Zuma has shifted the focus of his claims to the impairment of his dignity, some suggest.

The legal reprieve only applies to those cases that predate the Polokwane conference and Zuma concludes his statement with this warning: "I will not hesitate to take legal action in the event of any future defamatory publications in the media.

"I have already given notice of one such case, concerning a defamatory heading that was published in the newspaper Rapport at the end of 2007."

With acknowledgements to Deon de Lange and The Star.