President Jacob Zuma's defamation case of R5 million against Rapport newspaper has been dismissed with costs after he failed to respond to an interim court order in the case, according to a report on Wednesday.

This follows Rapport's application to the Western Cape High Court earlier this year to have Zuma's defamation case dismissed, Beeld reported.

Judge Willem Louw on Tuesday granted the application, submitted by Media24 on behalf of Rapport.

Willem de Klerk, Rapport's attorney, said the lawsuit between the President and Rapport was over.

"The judgment was not based on the material facts of the case. It was grounded on President Zuma's persistent failure to comply with the rules of the court."

According to De Klerk, Zuma had been requested under court rules to submit documents relevant to the proceedings and Rapport's legal team, but he did not do so.

"After multiple requests, we obtained a court order compelling him to respond to our request. He didn't respond. After that we submitted an application to have his defamation case rejected."

Zuma's claim was related to an article and photo published on December 30, 2007 in Rapport.

Under the heading "Picnic with Dingaan" a picture was published of Zuma in the company of comedian Leon Schuster and singer Steve Hofmeyr.