Major General Andre Lincoln, a policeman chosen by then-president Nelson Mandela to head an elite presidential investigative unit, has won an appeal in a civil case against the police minister in the Western Cape High Court.

Lincoln confirmed on Monday that his appeal, which is related to at least 15 years of legal wrangling, had been successful.

It is not yet clear how Lincoln now plans to proceed with the matter.

Lincoln previously claimed that he had been involved in highly sensitive investigations, including a suspected plot by cops to kill Mandela at his 1994 inauguration, which he claimed was "covered up".

He had also previously faced 47 criminal charges and was convicted of 17 of these in 2003.

Lincoln then appealed the conviction and was acquitted on all the charges.

He believed that, due to the critical investigations he was busy with, other senior police officers had set him up and had him criminally charged.

In 2017, he launched a civil claim in relation to this, wanting R15-million in damages from the then minister of safety and security (now police minister).

Lincoln had also wanted judgment passed on what his legal team had termed the "malicious investigation and instigation of prosecution" against him.

In September 2017, he lost this case.

Lincoln once again decided to appeal the judgment and, on Monday, it was announced that he had won.

In 1996, then-president Mandela appointed Lincoln to head a special team, the presidential investigation task unit.

The unit had been tasked with investigating Cape Town-based Italian mafioso Vito Palazzolo and his links to government officials, police, and businessmen, as well as suspected underworld figures, like slain bouncer kingpin Cyril Beeka and former Hard Livings gang boss Rashied Staggie.