Environmental organisations the Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute (Safcei) and The Green Connection (TGC) say they have been vindicated to some extent, after struggling for more than two years to get Section 6 of the National Energy Act (NEA) into operation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on April 28 gazetted the decision to bring Section 6 of the NEA into operation, effective April 1, 2024, following legal proceedings launched by the environmental organisations in January to review government’s failure or refusal to bring Section 6 into operation.

TGC says it tried to engage with the President and the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy about developing a proper Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) in compliance with Section 6 of the NEA since November 2020.

Section 6 requires that an energy plan be developed with public input and that it consider all variables and influences such as climate change and South Africa’s development plans.

The section also requires that the IEP be reviewed every year.

“While we have achieved, to some degree, what we had set out to do – that is, for the President to agree to bring into operation the relevant Section of the NEA that drives energy planning, the fact that it will only be effective from April 2024 means that only half the battle is won.

“In the midst of a crippling energy crisis, the President’s decision to wait a year leaves us with many questions and reservations, because it means that only then will Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe be legally required to get the ball rolling to start developing an IEP,” TCG and Safcei explain.

The IEP will serve as a guide for proposed energy projects, which should be based on need and desirability and, if brought into effect, Section 6 would curb disparate decision-making about South Africa’s energy future.

According to the organisations, there are a host of energy projects – from oil and gas to nuclear – that are being considered and undertaken without a comprehensive and long-term plan.

The IEP is in the Energy Act because it balances competing economic, environmental, political and social interests and sets the correct context in which energy-related decisions are to be made.

Most importantly, Section 6 guarantees an energy plan that is developed in consultation with the people.

TGC advocacy officer Kholwani Simelane comments that, as South Africa limps through the energy crisis, it is confusing why the President would delay the process to start proper energy planning, and, in essence, extend people’s suffering by another year.

“What is the point of all these ad hoc energy committees and task groups, if they cannot work together to get the country geared towards integrated energy planning?

“If this is not the purpose of these measures, then it is just another massive waste of public funds, which should be used to find real, tangible ways of dealing with the crises,” the organisations argue.

The President and the Ministry maintained throughout the last two years that various sector plans first needed to be adopted before an IEP was developed; however, the environmental organisations believe sector plans were not a prerequisite for enacting Section 6.  

Besides, the organisations say, the sector plans risk becoming null and void, and are not a valid reason for government to delay real action on energy planning.

“South Africans should question whether these decisions are being driven by the needs of the people or whether they are politically motivated. Additionally, many of these sector plans have already taken several years to develop and are still incomplete,” TCG highlights.

Safcei executive director Francesca de Gasparis questions why government needs so much time to start the overarching plan for energy and why plan the IEP to start next year if the energy crisis should be top priority. She says it seems like government is “kicking the can as far down the road as possible”.

De Gasparis adds that it creates a mess if energy projects are planned without an overarching national energy plan.

The organisations say they are firm believers in dialogue and finding constructive solutions for the greater good and urge South Africans to make sure their views are being heard in Parliament when development and consultation on the IEP starts.