A High Court hearing into an application brought by the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (Safcei) and Earthlife Africa Johannesburg relating to the legality of South Africa’s nuclear procurement process has been set down for December 13 and 14.
The two organisations question the legality of the process followed by government and want the court to put a halt to any nontransparent attempt to procure 9 600 MW of new nuclear capacity.
Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson has indicated that a nuclear request for proposal will be released on September 30, but has refused to release documents relating to its procurement preparations to the Democratic Alliance, the official opposition.
“We are very pleased that the court understands the urgency of this matter at a critical stage in South Africa’s energy decision-making process, and appreciates that it is so much in the public’s interest”, Safcei energy adviser Liz McDaid said in a statement.