NGOs could drag Mantashe to court over ‘unlawful’ nuclear plan

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe could be hauled before courts for attempting to revive the nuclear energy programme through the back door and in breach of last year’s court decision.

The department was accused by environmental justice organisations Earthlife Africa Johannesburg (Earthlife) and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) of doing what they undertook not to do in the High Court in Cape Town: to go ahead with the nuclear procurement process unlawfully.

Now, Earthlife and SAFCEI are bracing themselves for yet another legal war against the department.

The NGOs were alarmed after the department indicated in parliamentary presentations last month, its intention to issue a request for information (RFI), the first step in the procurement process.

“Mantashe and the department will be acting in constructive contempt of the judgment if they start the procurement process for the proposed 2500MW new nuclear power programme,” the NGOs said.

The department confirmed it had given notice to members of the public to respond to its request for information and do so within a month. Earlier, Mantashe said the department planned to pursue the nuclear programme.

On Sunday, the department published the RFI, saying upfront planning was necessary for security of energy supply to society into the future.

“The RFI is intended to commence the departmental preparatory work to develop plans for a future nuclear energy build programme. This is in line with the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 Decision 8, which states that the department will commence preparations for a nuclear build programme at a pace and scale that the country can afford because it is a no-regret option in the long term”.

This would enable the department to gain insight into the cost of the programme, possible ownership structures, cost recovery, the end-user cost and sustainability of the programme.

Earthlife and SAFCEI said they were alarmed by the department’s move which, they said, was in “clear breach” of the judgment in April 2017, that put the brakes on former president Jacob Zuma’s controversial nuclear deal.

It was also against the undertaking given by former energy minister David Mahlobo in November, a month prior to the ANC elective conference, to comply with the judgment.

It was ruled that new nuclear procurement could not start until such time as the minister made a lawful determination that new nuclear generation capacity is required and should be procured.

“In our view, the current minister of energy is also bound by this undertaking”.

The lawyers said the judgment also reinforced that the s34 decision-making process must be procedurally fair and that this would require meaningful public participation prior to such a decision being made.

Earthlife’s Makoma Lekalaka said: “The Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters remind us of the significant dangers of nuclear power. Nuclear power stations produce expensive electricity when the costs of nuclear fuel, construction, radioactive waste management and end-of-life decommissioning are factored in.

“Rather than burdening current and future generations with higher electricity costs, encourage more investment in agile renewable energy sources.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.