THOUSANDS of South Africans seeking damages for asbestos-related diseases will be able to pursue their case against a British company in English courts, the House of Lords decided on Thursday in a landmark ruling. More than 3000 claimants will be able seek justice from the British legal system in a group action suit against Cape PLC, a company which ran asbestos mines in South Africa up until 1979, law lords ruled. They overturned a previous ruling from the Court of Appeal, which said that as the events at the heart of the case occurred in South Africa, the legal proceedings should be heard there. The law lords said that as South Africa had no legal procedure to deal with such “potentially protracted and expensive litigation” the cases could be heard in Britain. “The procedural novelty of these proceedings, if pursued in South Africa, must in my view act as a further disincentive to any person or body considering whether or not to finance the proceedings,” Lord Bingham said. The case involves claims by former mine workers and residents of areas contaminated by asbestos mines and dumps over a 30-year period.