Pretoria – Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi will not appeal last month's ruling by the Western Cape High Court that government’s attempts to secure 9.6 gigawatts of nuclear energy were unlawful, she said on Saturday.
On April 26, two judges of the Western Cape High Court hearing an application by Earthlife Africa and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (Safcei) set aside as unlawful and unconstitutional the initial section 34 determination (in terms of the Electricity Regulation Act) to procure nuclear energy in 2013, the subsequent section 34 determination in 2016, and the co-operation agreements signed with Russia, the US, and South Korea. Costs were ordered against the minister.
"I have decided that I will not be appealing the decision of the Western Cape High Court on this matter," Kubayi said in a statement on Saturday.
"I have, prior to the issuing of this communication, consulted with the officials within the department as well as the legal representatives that were dealing with this matter. Major concerns were raised with regards to the judgment and its implication to the department in relation to the agreements that affects our counterparts and section 34 determinations," she said.
"Energy mix: government and the department remains committed to the currently approved energy mix policy and will continue to strive to implement all forms of energy sources to secure the supply and availability of energy in the country. We appeal to our stakeholders to stop the temptation to divide the sector between nuclear and renewables."
Kubayi said she had instructed the department to review the processing of all future section 34 determinations and review all determinations currently in place to ensure compliance with the judgment.
Further, in accepting the ruling of the court and ensuring that no impropriety was suggested in future, the department would seek to "apply standardisation in both form and processing (relating to proper tabling before Parliament and its committees) of all intergovernmental agreements to be concluded with international countries".
"It is important to note that there is no intention to table the current agreements but will embark to sign new agreements with all the five countries [Russia, the US, South Korea, France, and China] and table them within reasonable time to Parliament for consideration," she said.