Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi will face MPs on Tuesday over the nuclear deal after the Western Cape High Court scrapped it.
Kubayi said yesterday she was still studying the judgment and would take a decision soon on whether to appeal it.
But yesterday, analysts warned the government not to appeal the matter as it was a difficult and unwinnable case. They also said the project was too expensive, it would bankrupt the state.
In her meeting with the portfolio committee on energy on Tuesday, Kubayi will be urged to take MPs into her confidence.
Chairman of the committee Fikile Majola confirmed they would meet Kubayi and discuss the court judgment and way forward. He said it was not the decision of Parliament to procure nuclear, but that of the cabinet. “Our role as Parliament is oversight we will abide with the court decision.”
Professor Somadoda Fikeni of Unisa said the judgment caused more damage for President Jacob Zuma and the government.
“It adds to reputational risk. When a government finds itself losing major cases against several counsels from civil society, the public may begin to doubt the sincerity of the government.”
Fikeni said the government was warned several times by civil society and some within its own ranks not to push ahead with the nuclear deal because it was costly.
He said the judgment came against the backdrop of major rulings, including Nkandla, which damaged Zuma. “This is a case government shouldn’t try to challenge,” he said. One of the factors was that the South African economy did not allow for such a huge deal.
“The people will begin to think the battle for the control of the National Treasury was about the nuclear deal,” he said.