Arms deal activist Terry Crawford-Browne on Thursday reached an agreement with lawyers for Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on the process to be followed with two court actions Manuel has brought against him.

Manuel earlier this year won an interim order in the Cape High Court to stop Crawford-Browne accusing him of arms deal corruption, and had applied to make it permanent.

Last week he also filed an application to have Crawford-Browne, who had challenged him repeatedly in court over the arms deal, declared a vexatious litigant. Crawford-Browne said that under Thursday's agreement, the vexatious litigant claim would be "conjoined" to the defamation action, rather than heard first as Manuel's lawyers had wanted.

A date for the hearing would be set "in due course", he said.

The agreement was made an order by Acting Judge President Jeanette Traverso.

With acknowledgements to Sapa.