South African Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi has apologised to UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese after she was irregularly served with court papers at the 23rd Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg, local media reported on Sunday.
The court papers, served Saturday, were reportedly connected to a US lawsuit by pro-Israel groups and was carried out by a South African sheriff without authorisation, according to national broadcaster SABC.
Francesca Albanese is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Under South African law, any request to serve foreign civil court documents must be approved by the justice minister and processed through the director general of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
‘I have made enormous sacrifices’
Kubayi confirmed the court papers were served without her office’s authorisation and has instructed the acting director general to take appropriate action.
She also issued an unconditional apology to Albanese, the UN and the Nelson Mandela Foundation for the incident.
The 23rd Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture was delivered by Albanese on Saturday under the theme “Enhancing Peace and Global Cooperation.”
“I really beg you to understand that for the past two years, I’ve taken on and I’ve made enormous sacrifices, personal sacrifices, to keep me, my personal issues, my personal drama aside – and I’m here to speak about Palestine,” Albanese told the forum.
