Cape Town - After initially opposing a legal challenge launched by eco-justice organisations seeking section 6 of the National Energy Act (NEA) to be brought into operation to enact legally binding and inclusive energy planning, President Cyril Ramaphosa has now backtracked and is set to bring section 6 into operation on April 1, 2024.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said this will enhance support for the Energy Action Plan, which remains the government’s key plan for securing electricity supply and ending load shedding.
The Green Connection and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) launched the legal challenge in January to review the president’s failure/refusal to enact section 6 after more than two years of unsuccessful engagement with the president and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.
This required the energy minister to develop and publish an Integrated Energy Plan (IEP), and review it annually with public input that considered influences such as climate change and South Africa’s overall development plans.
The organisations believe the lack of proper, updated energy planning is at the root of the country’s current energy problems. Ramaphosa and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe opposed the application.
However, following the president’s decision to enforce section 6, the case has been withdrawn and the matter mostly settled.
The organisations remain concerned about the year-long wait until April 1, 2024, when the legislation will be implemented and the IEP can be developed.
In a joint statement the organisations said: “The IEP is in the Energy Act because it balances competing economic, environmental, political and social interests and sets the correct context in which energy-related decisions are to be made.”
They said there are already a host of energy projects, from oil and gas to nuclear, being considered and undertaken without a comprehensive and long-term plan.
The Green Connection strategic head Liz McDaid said: “If we had an energy plan as per section 6 of NEA, we wouldn’t need all these emergency plans which appear to change at the whim of politicians. So we urge for an integrated approach, rather than staggering along lurching from crisis to crisis as we have been doing for nearly 15 years.”
Magwenya said it was always the president’s intention to bring section 6 of the act into operation.
“Given the complexity involved and the need for adequate stakeholder consultation, we must ensure sufficient time before the implementation of section 6. The president was cautious not to have acted prematurely and in so doing, to jeopardise the fundamental objectives of section 6 of the act,” Magwenya said.
Magwenya said the development and finalisation of sector plans is an important part of the process of finalising an IEP that is credible and technically sound for South Africa.