The Green Connection and Natural Justice are challenging the decision of Minister of the Forestry,
Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), Barbara Creecy, to allow Karpowership to submit a Generic
Environmental Management Programme (GEMPr) for Saldanha Bay. The organisations argue, in a
letter to the DFFE, that the decision is unlawful.
The DFFE has admitted that the views of these non-governmental organisations were not heard by
the Minister. The DFFE overturned a decision of the Chief Director: Integrated Environmental
Authorisations to deny Karpowership SA’s request to submit a GEMPr for Saldanha Bay, well past the
regulatory deadline.
The eco-justice organisations say that the Minister’s decision was unlawful because she did not
consider nor address their arguments against Karpowerships’ appeal of the Chief Director’s decision.
The DFFE has confirmed that the Minister never received their responding statement to
Karpowerships’ appeal document, due to an administrative error. They believe that if their statement
was before the Minister, it would materially have affected her appeal decision.
The Green Connection’s Community Outreach Coordinator Neville van Rooy says, “As South Africans,
we have a right to raise our concerns, which must be considered by the deciding authority. The
Minister did not have the Green Connection and Natural Justice’s submissions before her when she
made her decision. We believe that Minister Creecy’s decision to now allow for the late submission
of Karpowerships’ Generic Environmental Management Programme report (GEMPr) is incorrect,
since she did not consider all the information that should have been available to her. So, in the spirit
of fairness, and because of the Department’s admitted error, we believe that the Minister must
approach the courts herself, to get her decision overturned.
“The Karpowership matters have tested the right to administrative justice, as it stands in the
Constitution. We believe there are real concerns about how Karpowership has conducted the
Environmental Impact Assessment process in South Africa and will continue to raise these concerns
so that the public is aware of them. We call for the DFFE to consider our letter,” says Melissa
Groenink-Groves, Programme Manager at Natural Justice.
The organisations say that, if the Minister does not approach the courts to review her own decision,
they will be forced to do so themselves.
BENDING OVER BACKWARDS, DMRE GIVES KARPOWERSHIPS ANOTHER BREAK
30 September 2021 was supposed to be the commercial close – a date set by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) – for bidders in the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (RMI4P).
TOSACO EIA MET WITH PUSHBACK FROM CIVIL SOCIETY, TO PROTECT THE OCEAN AND SMALL-SCALE FISHER LIVELIHOODS
This week, The Green Connection submitted its comments critiquing several aspects of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, particularly the lack of procedural fairness, as well as the conclusions reached – notwithstanding information gaps and scientific uncertainty – that should form part Tosaco Energy’s request to undertake various activities in Block 1, off the West Coast.
RECENTLY GRADUATED GREEN CONNECTORS, EQUIPPED FOR THE POLLS AND READY TO WEIGH-IN ON COP26
Following their recent graduation from The Green Connection’s Legacy Champions Programme, these newly empowered Green Connectors say they feel equipped with the necessary advocacy skills to make positive changes in their communities, starting with their vote in the local elections (1 November) and weighing in on the discussions around COP26 (which starts on 31 October) – as part of their efforts to oppose oil and gas developments in the country and offshore.
GREEN CONNECTION’S ‘FUNERAL FOR THE CLIMATE’ (AFRICAN ENERGY WEEK) AND COMMENT ON YESTERDAY’S BUDGET SPEECH
This week (10 November 2021), we joined other environmental defenders in Cape Town to peacefully demonstrate outside the African Energy Week #AEW2021 conference venue demanding an end to fossil fuels and the immediate pivot toward the just transition to a renewable energy future.
CLOSE TO 200 PEOPLE RISE AT CRACK OF DAWN TO PROTEST THE ARRIVAL OF SHELL’S SEISMIC MONSTER, AMAZON WARRIOR
On Sunday morning, (21 November 2021), before the crack of dawn, nearly 200 concerned environmental defenders took to the Waterfront to get a glimpse of Shell’s seismic testing vessel, Amazon Warrior, as it made its way into Cape Town harbour. The vessel travelled down the West coast of Africa, on its way to the Wild Coast, to conduct seismic surveys for an estimated five (5) months.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS DOUBLE-UP ON EFFORTS TO OPPOSE UPCOMING AND FURTHER SEISMIC TESTING IN SOUTH AFRICA’S OCEANS
As the groundswell of opposition against Shell’s upcoming 3D seismic survey off the Transkei builds, the Green Connection – an ecojustice NGO that supports small-scale fishers in advocating for their livelihoods – reacted with astonishment to a press statement issued by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) on 9 December 2021.