By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The high court in Pretoria granted the African National Congress (ANC) an “edictal citation”, to allow it to serve papers abroad in its defamation suit against the former Eskom chief executive Andre de Ruyter.
The papers can now be served to De Ruyter by an authorised official under German law.
De Ruyter made explosive claims about the ANC’s involvement in widespread corruption at Eskom in an interview with eNCA’s Annika Larsen, which aired in February 2023.
Following this interview, De Ruyter left the country due to fears for his safety.
Since he left South Africa, more information about his allegations has come to light, including the existence of a secret intelligence dossier.
Among his many allegations of sabotage and corruption, De Ruyter said he was aware of at least four dangerous criminal cartels stealing coal from mines in Mpumalanga intended for Eskom’s power stations.
De Ruyter said these cartels had a hit squad of between 60 and 70 highly trained and well-armed people.
Since he’s left South Africa, De Ruyter has largely been silent, bar his appearance last week before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).
During his presentation to Scopa, de Ruyter said that his life was not currently under threat, and that he had not received any new threats since his alleged poisoning at the end of 2022.
However, the former Eskom executive is in high demand, with many parties seeking answers to the various claims he has made.
The ruling party, therefore, sought an “edictal citation” from the court, which would grant it permission to serve court papers in a foreign country.
The ANC wants the court to declare De Ruyter’s statement to eNCA defamatory and order him to retract.