Former South African President Thabo Mbeki said Monday that he had neither ordered prosecutors to stop cases involving apartheid-era crimes nor struck secret deals to shield former security officers from justice.

"It's a complete fabrication. There was no such thing," Mbeki told a judicial inquiry in Johannesburg examining allegations that political interference in democratic South Africa prevented investigations and prosecutions of crimes committed under white minority rule.

Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela in 1999 and served until 2008, said in a written statement that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) must explain why it failed to pursue cases referred by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).