South African are all celebrating the fact that the High Court has put the nuclear deal on hold ruling it as unlawful.
The Western Cape High Court has given the Government a taste of justice, where its nuclear procurement processes to date have been declared unlawful and set aside.
Judge Lee Bozalek ruled in favour of the case that was brought by the organisations Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (Safcei) against government.
The court case was first launched in October 2015, when the government’s decision to buy 9.6 GW of nuclear power went against required democratic processes. The decision was made without debating it in Parliament first.
The Judge declared the 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.
To make the victory even sweeter the judge ordered the Energy Minister to pay for all the legal fee’s. R1 trillion is now South Africa’s again and does not belong to a Russian or any other nuclear deal. The spokes person for Safcei said,
“So, back to the drawing board, Eskom. Back to the drawing board, Department of Energy. The people are going to be the (ones) talking now and speaking out on what energy we want.”
“There are no more secret deals. Everything has to happen in the open.”
South African have taken to Social Media to celebrate the ruling.
Thank you, @SAFCEI & @Earthlife_JHB, for fighting the #NuclearDeal for all of us. Heroic and potentially country-saving.
— Tom Eaton (@TomEatonSA) April 26, 2017
#NuclearDeal
BREAKING NEWS: The Western Cape high court has dismissed the Government's plans to commence with the deal! pic.twitter.com/iqLpUu3A1X— Tumi Sole (@tumisole) April 26, 2017
We are protected by the courts while the government is ready to sell the country to the highest bidder#NuclearDeal
— Kholeka Mabaso (@MabasoKholeka) April 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/JCos01/status/857150270849110016
My mood after hearing about the ruling of the #NuclearDeal pic.twitter.com/2KUamDa21V
— IG: brianbuys_ (@brianbuys_) April 26, 2017
#NuclearDeal A huge thank you to all involved who fought this and won. YESSSSSSS 👊🏻👊🏾 pic.twitter.com/TDiCxsuwvN
— Purplecherry (@freezochino) April 26, 2017
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