Former South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni's comments directed at businessman Mario Pretorius were not racist or discriminatory, the Equality Court in Pretoria ruled on Wednesday.

Handing down judgment, Magistrate Siva Padayachee said that the utterances during a September reserve bank shareholders meeting were nothing more than a "storm in a teacup".

Pretorius brought the matter before the court because he felt Mboweni's statement that he should not speak to him like a white person used to speak to black people in the past amounted to hate speech, were discriminatory and racist.

However, Padayachee said that Pretorius' lawyer Advocate Chris Erasmus had failed to show that the utterances promoted hatred or were harmful, prerequisites according the Equality Act.

"The court finds that the utterance was spontaneous, reactionary and it was off the cuff and was according to objective standards, a genuine expression of dismay at being spoken to in a fashion that was rude or condescending.

"The utterance was, in the opinion of the court, not designed to label the complainant Mr Pretorius a racist or take liberties with Pretorius' dignity."

Mboweni's legal team had argued that his said comment was a result of a repeated attempt to bring order to the meeting and after Pretorius shouted "shocking" twice while Mboweni was trying to do so.

In court, Pretorius dismissed arguments that Mboweni's statement was triggered by his "rude behaviour", saying his use of the word "sir" indicated that he was being respectful.

During the 2008 meeting, another shareholder, Michael Duerr, called a point of order, which Mboweni rejected, prompting Pretorius to call out "shocking, sir, shocking".

Mboweni retorted: "I shall not permit you to talk to me like whites used to talk to blacks".

Pretorius said tat his understanding of the statement was that, "I was insulting him".

Padayachee said that his decision had been reached after looking at the situation contextually and objectively and against the backdrop of racial inequalities prior to 1994.

Padayachee dismissed Pretorius' complaint and ordered that both he and Mboweni pay their own legal costs.

After judgment was handed down Mboweni left the court but only after shaking Pretorius' hand and saying: "Let's leave this [behind us]."

Speaking outside the court Pretorius "applauded" Mboweni for the handshake saying it was "big" of him.

However, he still felt let down by the judgment.

"I am deeply disappointed. The court made a ruling that it was a storm in a teacup but it was my teacup," said Pretorius.

"I think he made a racist comment. I have always respected Mr Mboweni as a man with a track record but you can only judge a man by his actions," he said.

Mboweni refused to comment on the matter and quickly left the court.