President Jacob Zuma must personally be held liable for the costs of his court bid to interdict the release of former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's State capture report, the High Court in Pretoria ruled on Wednesday.

Delivering a unanimous judgment on behalf of a full bench of high court judges, Judge President Dunstan Mlambo said the stance adopted by Zuma in 2016 on the status of the report was "completely unreasonable".

Mlambo said there was no basis for Zuma's application to interdict the release of the report.

"The president's persistence to continue with the application [for an interdict against the public protector] amounts to abuse of judicial process," said Mlambo.