27 October 2025 | 11:52 CAT
3-minute read

Attempt to serve legal papers on UN Rapporteur Albanese exposes bureaucratic vulnerabilities in SA

An individual attempted to deliver legal papers to UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese on Saturday evening after she delivered the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Legal documents originating in Colorado detail a defamation suit brought by the National Jewish Advocacy Center on behalf of two Christian-Zionist groups: Christian Friends of Israeli Communities and Christians for Israel USA. They claim Albanese defamed them through her reports alleging their involvement in funding settler activities in the West Bank and contributing to alleged war crimes. The groups are suing for libel, trade-interference and intentional disruption of economic advantage.

Albanese refused to accept the papers when served. Subsequently, it emerged that the South African Department of Justice had, via its Directorate for International Treaties, forwarded a letter instructing the sheriff to serve the papers. But the Minister of Justice, Mmamoloko Kubayi, later issued a public apology, retracting the instruction and acknowledging a procedural breakdown.

According to investigative correspondence obtained by independent media, the letter was sent without the required approval from the Director-General and the Minister’s office. Under the Hague Service Convention—an international treaty for cross-border civil service of process—member states must verify such documents through designated “central authorities”. In this case, the US-based suit used that mechanism to attempt service in a jurisdiction other than the defendant’s home country.

Analysts say the targeting of South Africa was tactical: Albanese is based in Tunisia, originally from Italy, yet the service was attempted in South Africa, at a high-visibility event.

Commentator and award-winning journalist Qaanitah Hunter described the incident as “a moment of vulnerability for South Africa” and noted that while the service might appear routine, the geopolitical implications are significant.

“But definitely a moment of vulnerability for South Africa, especially since South Africa faces or has an ally in Albanese in trying to call for the maintaining of international law and for calling for accountability for Israel and its genocide against Gaza.”

Hunter pointed out that Albanese’s mission—exposing complicity of states and non-state actors in Israel’s attack on Gaza—has already placed her at the centre of a wider campaign to silence dissent. In July, the United States sanctioned Albanese and froze her assets, citing allegations of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, charges she is not guilty of.

Analysts indicate that criticism of Israel’s policies does not amount to anti-Semitism, and argue that equating the two undermines legitimate scrutiny of state conduct. The two Christian-Zionist groups in Colorado accuse her of years of “anti-Jewish racism, hatred and discrimination,” but legal scholars note that US defamation suits face a high bar under First Amendment jurisprudence, especially when the defendant is a foreign official performing international duties.

South Africa’s commitment to international law and human rights is well known, but this incident exposes how bureaucratic lapses can be leveraged by powerful actors to shift the narrative and intimidate activists.

For South Africa, the incident poses a dilemma. On the one hand, the country has positioned itself as a moral voice in the international arena—supporting cases at the International Court of Justice and other global forums regarding war crimes in Gaza. On the other hand, the unauthorised service of foreign-origin court papers on national soil without proper oversight risks undermining institutional credibility and diplomatic standing.

Observers say the matter raises urgent questions: Was the Department of Justice instrumentally used by foreign litigants seeking to circumvent traditional service routes? Or was it simply a chain of human error within the bureaucracy? The Minister’s apology suggests the latter, but the context surrounding Albanese gives the appearance of something much more strategic. Meanwhile, Albanese has signalled that she will shortly release a major public report in Cape Town detailing complicity of governments and NGOs in the West Bank.

Listen to the Debrief Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Ibrahim Daya.