SECTION27 represented the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA) in an amicus intervention in the groundbreaking constitutional case that sought to set aside the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy’s decision, which the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) concurred to, to procure 1 500 MW of new coal-fired power as stipulated in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). The Gauteng North High heard the application on 9 and 10 October 2024, subsequently delivered its judgment on 04 December 2024, a ruling that is welcomed by both VEJA and SECTION27.
The application was launched in the Gauteng North High Court by the African Climate Alliance, Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action and the groundWork Trust, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights against the Minister, NERSA and others. The application objected to the Minister’s decision on the basis that the Minister and NERSA failed to consider the adverse impact of the procurement of new coal-fired energy on various constitutional rights.
VEJA represented by SECTION27 was admitted as a friend of the court in the matter. VEJA’s submissions sought to support the applicants’ case and to highlight the intersectional discrimination faced by its members who are extensively affected by air pollution in the Vaal Triangle.
In its judgment, the Court held that in making their decisions, the Minister and NERSA failed to comply with their constitutional obligations to consider the impact of their decision to procure 1500 MW of new coalfired power on the right of children to have their interests treated as paramount as well on the right of children and future generations to a healthy environment.
The Court overturned the Minister and NERSA’s decisions, declaring them unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid. VEJA, as a community-based organisation located in the heavily polluted Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area is well-versed on industrial pollution, and its impact on the health of their community. The submissions made on behalf of VEJA focused on environmental injustice in the context of industrial development and coal-fired power plants and the impacts on the right to health.
Through the lived experiences of women affected by pollution in the Vaal, our arguments highlighted how the new coal-fired power is likely to significantly worsen air quality thus infringing on their rights to an environment that is not harmful to their health and well-being and their rights to access to healthcare. Further we put it before the court that such a decision is likely to disproportionately discriminate against black women specifically, who bear the worst brunt of environmental pollution. Our arguments highlighted that these impacts were not considered by the Minister or NERSA in making its decision.
While there was no specific reference to the intersectional discrimination that VEJA put forward to the Court in its judgment, the Court remarked that VEJA’s submissions were “helpful” in making its determination. The judgment is a victory for the assertion of the rights of children and future generations and is a step forward for environmental rights, particularly the right to an environment that is not harmful to one’s health or well-being.
For media enquiries contact:
SECTION27: Pearl Nicodemus | nicodemus@section27.org.za | 082 298 2636
VEJA: Mduduzi Tshabalala | mduduzit@veja.org.za | 061 355 9614
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