South Africa Nuclear Plans Stalled as Court Rules Process Unlawful
- Any requests for proposals or information must be set aside
- Deals already signed must be canceled, High Court rules
Electricity pylons carry high voltage power lines from the Hendrina power station, operated by Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., in Middelburg, South Africa, on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. Creditors of Glencore's Optimum Coal mine approved a plan to sell it to a company controlled by South African President Jacob Zuma's son and the Gupta family on Friday, according to an administrator of the business-rescue team.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergSouth Africa hasn’t complied with the constitution in seeking bidders for a nuclear-energy program and must cancel any deals that have already been signed, the Western Cape High Court ruled.
The government must hold public hearings and debate the estimated 1 trillion-rand ($76 billion) program in Parliament, according to a ruling read out on Wednesday by Judge Lee Bozalek in a case brought by civil-society groups Earthlife Africa and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute. Agreements set aside include those with Russia, the U.S. and South Korea.