If anyone had besmirched the country's good name, it was the South African government, a lawyer for Pakistani national Khalid Rashid charged yesterday.

Zahir Omar was reacting to a cabinet statement in which it noted his "continuing campaign to besmirch the name of our government and our country regarding Rashid's deportation from our country".

"In many respects he has behaved in an unethical manner. In addition to allegations against theft of files, he has also ... been doing a running commentary on what is transpiring in the court hearing."

Government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said that once the legal case was concluded, attorneys acting on behalf of cabinet's justice, peace and security cluster might want to consider "whether there should be any steps to prevent this in future".

Omar hit back and said it was the government's agreement to a British request to forcibly remove Rashid that had besmirched the country's name. He denied he had acted unethically and said he had followed correct procedures.

The cabinet yesterday again rejected that Pretoria was ever involved in such "heinous acts as renditions".

"Our government would never do those kind of things," Netshitenzhe said.

"If indeed Mr Omar is genuinely interested in assisting Mr Rashid's family to establish his whereabouts, the government believes he should do so in Pakistan and not in our country."

The government also believed that Omar's application to the International Criminal Court in the Hague would not see the light of day, Netshitenzhe said.

Omar said he was drawing up an affidavit to be submitted to the court and that it would be dispatched through fastmail tomorrow.

The only basis for the case being rejected by the international court was if he had not exhausted all "domestic remedies". Omar said that he had phoned the national Directorate of Public Prosecutions enquiring if there was anyone dealing with crimes against humanity and was told that there was none.

Omar confirmed that a parallel legal process was underway in Pakistan to determine Rashid's whereabouts. Yesterday, the Pakistani government confirmed that Rashid was "presently in its custody".

Netshitenzhe said special measures had been taken after allegations that Rashid was a terror suspect.

While there was insufficient information for a formal extradition, he was duly deported because he was an illegal immigrant, Netshitenzhe said.