Johannesburg – The Western Cape High Court has declared government's nuclear procurement processes to date as unlawful.
Judge Lee Bozalek on Wednesday ruled in favour of the case brought by Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (Safcei) against government.
In his ruling, he declared government’s attempts to secure 9.6 GW of nuclear energy were unlawful, including the initial determination to procure nuclear energy in 2013, the cooperation agreements signed with Russia, the US and South Korea, as well as former energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson’s decision to hand over the procurement of nuclear energy to Eskom late last year.
READ: Court sets aside nuclear deals with Russia, other countries
The court declared that the minister's decision on or about June 10 2015 to table the Russian intergovernmental agreement (IGA) before parliament in terms of the Constitution is unconstitutional and unlawful, and it is reviewed and set aside.
The judge also declared the minister's decisions at about the same time to table certain other agreements before Parliament in terms of the Constitution unlawful and unconstitutional.
These include the agreement for cooperation between SA and the US regarding peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and an agreement between SA and the Republic of Korea regarding cooperation between the two countries in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
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