Jacob Zuma will face charges of fraud, racketeering and money laundering, prosecutors announced.
The former South African president has had historic charges, which were thrown out by prosecutors nearly a decade ago, reinstated.
The charges relate to an arms deal in the 1990s, when Mr Zuma was deputy president.
“After consideration of the matter, I am of the view that there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution of Mr Zuma on the charges listed in the indictment,” Shaun Abrahams, head of the National Prosecuting Authority, said.
There are 16 counts against Mr Zuma who has claimed he is a victim of misconduct by prosecutors as well as leaks to the media.
“Mr Zuma in addition disputes all the allegations against him and records that he lacked the requisite intention to commit any of the crimes listed in the indictment,” Mr Abrahams said.
Mr Abrahams himself has faced calls to resign for allegedly declining to move against Mr Zuma when he was in office.
Mr Zuma resigned as president last month on the orders of his party, the African National Congress.
In another scandal, South Africa’s top court ruled in 2016 that Mr Zuma violated the constitution following an investigation of multi-million-dollar upgrades to his private home using state funds. He paid back some of the money.
Agencies contributed to this report
