The National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc) is appealing to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to reconsider its rejection of Karpowership South Africa's (SA's) environmental-impact assessment (EIA) applications.

The EIAs were submitted for three locations – the port of Ngqura, Saldanha Bay and Richards Bay.

Nafcoc also appealed to Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy to “engage in a proper consultative discourse with the applicant”.

Nafcoc on August 5 said load-shedding was one of the biggest issues affecting the South African economy.

According to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Nafcoc said, load-shedding had cost South Africa an estimated R118-billion in 2019 alone.

“As an association representing the views and needs of the country's emerging businesses, Nafcoc knows first-hand the devastating impact load-shedding is having on our members, households and the economy at large,” the chamber said.

Small, medium-sized and microenterprises are the lifeline of the South African economy and, until urgent measures are put in place to address load-shedding, they will continue to struggle and close down, resulting in devastating job losses, the chamber argued.

“Environmental concerns should not be disregarded, but they must not be looked at in isolation from an economy wrecked by endemic levels of poverty and unemployment,” it said, adding that “a balanced approach is more than ever needed in our efforts and plans to restart our economy”.

Nafcoc stated that Karpowership SA's three projects meet every single one of the requirements specified in the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and that, once online, the three projects would have the capacity to eliminate one full stage of load-shedding.

Nafcoc said it had a vested interest in ensuring that the environment remains protected and pristine. The chamber has also engaged with Karpowership SA directly about the environmental impact of the projects.