Johannesburg ­ Former judge Willem Heath has called for criminal charges to be brought against President Thabo Mbeki, former Justice minister Penuell Maduna and former chief prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka.

Heath told the weekly Mail & Guardian that the findings by Judge Chris Nicholson are tantamount to prima facie evidence of contraventions of the NPA Act by Mbeki, Maduna and Ngcuka.

Nicholson found that the decision to prosecute Jacob Zuma on fraud and corruption charges was invalid.

Heath said South Africans should be protected against the "systematic abuse, detailed in the judgment, of organs of state by the president and his purported henchmen".

"If the behaviour found by Nicholson is not addressed, the application of the principle of the separation of powers will remain at the whim of those who have seemingly been using it most effectively for personal gain," said Heath.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and The Witness.