Zille had sued Malema, Shivambu, the youth league and Cape Town ANC councillor Andile Lili for R1.4-million for describing her cabinet as a "group of racist Helen Zille garden boys" and calling her a "racist", "colonialist" and "imperialist" during and after the 2009 elections.

In her affidavit Zille quoted Shivambu as saying, on May 12 2009: "The ANCYL is disgusted by remarks attributed to the racist girl Helen Zille who, when failing to defend her stupid and sexist decision to appoint predominantly white males into her cabinet, attacks the President of the Republic of South Africa."

Shivambu is also reported to have said: "Zille has appointed an all-male cabinet of useless people, the majority of whom are her boyfriends and concubines, so that she can continue to sleep around with them, yet she claims to have the moral authority to question our President."

The former league spokesman is also reported to have said: "If the fake racist girl continues to speak hogwash like she has been doing during these elections, we will take militant action against her."

Malema is reported to have said: "We will never make up with Helen Zille. She is an enemy of the revolution. She's racist and will remain racist. She has a racist agenda of making the Western Cape a province for whites only. If she had her way as premier to declare which people she wants in the province . for sure by now she would have declared the Western Cape for whites only."

Yesterday, Shivambu was not as vocal and, when contacted on his cellphone, said only: "We wish to express no comment about that [the court settlement] and please don't make further inquiries about it."

As part of the settlement the two have had to retract public statements about Zille and will pay her legal costs.

"These court orders are a victory for constitutional democracy and the norms the law sets out in terms of defamation. There is no room for unfounded defamatory statements in our society and this ruling upholds that in clear and strong terms. Politics must be about issues, not gratuitous and baseless insults," said Zille, who had sought answering affidavits in her R1.4-million defamation suit against Malema, Shivambu and Lili.

On April 24, Malema, Shivambu and Lili filed their answering affidavits after the court had set them a deadline to respond to Zille.