Major-General Andre Lincoln, a policeman that Nelson Mandela chose to head an elite presidential investigative unit, on Friday lost a civil case against the police minister in the Western Cape High Court.
Lincoln had wanted R15m in damages from the then-minister of safety and security.
He had also wanted judgment passed over what his legal team had termed the "malicious investigation and instigation of prosecution" against him.
Judge Judith Cloete was not persuaded that he had proved the relevant police officials had acted with malice, even on the basis of dolus eventualis, and without reasonable and probable cause.
Lincoln had been of the view that fellow senior police officers realised he had gathered intelligence on their plans, including one to murder Mandela, so they framed him.
He previously sought damages against the Justice and Constitutional Development Minister but withdrew the claim in September last year.