Gijima executive chairman Robert Gumede wanted to buy Independent News & Media South Africa but withdrew for what he has termed “sound commercial reasons”, he has revealed through his lawyers.

Gumede, who has threatened to sue the newspaper publishing company over an article that appeared a fortnight ago in its flagship Sunday title, the Sunday Independent, revealed at the weekend that he had been one of the bidders interested in buying the company.

Gumede has said he will sue the newspaper group, which was recently acquired by Iqbal Survé’s Sekunjalo, for more than R1bn. This is after the Sunday Independent ran a front-page lead story claiming that Gijima was being investigated under an order authorised by president Jacob Zuma. It said Zuma had signed a proclamation for the Special Investigating Unit to probe a R360m tender awarded to Gijima by the department of rural development & land reform.

In a letter to the newspaper, Gumede said the article was defamatory and the headline sensational and that this had caused him “serious commercial and reputational damage”. He said his lawyers — he is represented by Brian Kahn Incorporated — had been instructed to institute legal proceedings against the newspaper group; Survé, who serves as executive chairman; group executive editor Karima Brown; journalist Mogomotsi Magome; and acting editor Japhet Ncube.

But on Sunday, Ncube said in a piece published in the Sunday Independent that he stood by the story on Gijima. “Since Gumede’s public threats, I have gone back over the story to reassure myself and our readers that no mistakes were made in the research and write-up of the piece,” Ncube said.

“I am satisfied that the story stands up to the most detailed scrutiny to which a news story can reasonably be subjected,” he added. “The story met the highest standards for researching and compiling sensitive investigative pieces, and passed our own internal checking and approval procedures.”

Ncube said that facts in the story were checked thoroughly and verified, and that all affected parties were given the opportunity and time to comment. “As editor, I take serious exception to Gumede casting doubt on my integrity and professionalism by insinuating that I take instructions from … Survé. I have been a journalist and editor for many years, and have never taken instructions from the proprietors of the publications I worked for. That had not changed.”

However, Gumede said, through his lawyers, that Ncube’s response to the threatened lawsuit demonstrated “double standards” applied by the Sunday Independent, Independent News & Media South Africa and “those in control of the publication”.

“Reading Mr Ncube’s response leaves a bizarre feeling that [Independent News & Media] seems to be suffering from amnesia as they do not deal with Mr Gumede’s legal letter and his claims but rather focus on bullet-proofing the executive chairman, Mr Survé.”