Earthlife Africa (Cape Town) v. Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism & Eskom Holdings

Case No. 7653/03 (2005)

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Earthlife Africa (Cape Town) v. Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism & Eskom Holdings

South Africa High Court (Cape of Good Hope Prov. Div.)
Case No. 7653/03 (2005)

Facts

Eskom Holdings (Eskom) (defendant) wanted to build a new reactor at a nuclear power station near Cape Town. In accordance with domestic environmental law, Eskom commissioned independent consultants to produce an environmental-impact assessment. Members of the public, including Earthlife Africa (Cape Town) (Earthlife) (plaintiff), were permitted to submit comments on the draft report but not the final report that was submitted to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) (defendant) for approval. Earthlife’s comments were submitted to the consultants, who incorporated the comments in an annex to the final report. The final report was substantially different from the draft report. Based on the executive summary of the final report, the DEAT authorized construction of the reactor. Earthlife challenged the decision in court, arguing that the opportunity for public participation was flawed in two respects: (1) Earthlife and other members of the public were only allowed to comment on the draft report, not the final report, and (2) Earthlife and other members of the public were only allowed to submit comments to the consultants and not the decision-makers at the DEAT.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Griesel, J.)

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