'It did not say you can't do nuclear'
|Published
Mmamoloko Kubayi (right) being sworn in as minister Mmamoloko Kubayi (right) being sworn in as minister
In her first briefing to MPs, Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said on Tuesday she had yet to obtain clarity on the implications of the high court ruling invalidating the nuclear build procurement process thus far.
Kubayi told Parliament’s portfolio committee on energy her department’s legal team would mull the judgment by Judge Lee Bozalek in the Western Cape High Court last week, on Wednesday.
She stressed that the ruling did not push nuclear procurement off the table but merely faulted the process that was followed to arrive at it and expressed concern about the implications of the court setting aside two ministerial determinations by her predecessor Tina Joemat-Pettersson that laid the ground for Eskom to issue a request for information.
“It did not say you can’t do nuclear,” she said, stressing that the court had found the decision-making process had been irregular and therefore void.
The minister said her options could include an appeal or an application to court for a declaratory order.
Speaking after the briefing, she denied that she was determined to proceed with plans to expand South Africa’s nuclear power capacity by 9,600 megawatt.
“I have not decided that yet. I have not made up my mind,” Kubayi told ANA.