While it is clear that South Africa is making little headway to resolve the electricity loadshedding crisis – which is where citizens want to see government putting its efforts and delivering results – there is, instead, a lot of movement on other energy projects, particularly for offshore oil and gas.
A week ago, on 28 April 2023, the President finally published, in the Government Gazette, his decision
to bring Section 6 of the National Energy Act (NEA), into operation. A couple of days before that The
Green Connection and the Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI)
received correspondence from the State Attorney on behalf of the President and the Minister in the
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), that the President had decided to bring Section
6 into operation with effect from 1 April 2024.
The Green Connection says it is disappointed that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has decided to grant environmental authorisation to TEEPSA – to drill up to five exploration wells in Blocks 5/6/7 off the South-West coast of South Africa, including in riskier deep-water locations (at depths of up to 3.2 km).
NEXT STEPS…Following the court application (launched in January 2023) by The Green Connection and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI), they have continued to pursue the court case calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to bring Section 6 of National Energy Act, 2008 (NEA) into operation.
March 13, 2023 DFFE MAKES DECISIONS ON KARPOWERSHIPS – THE GREEN CONNECTION RESPONDS The Green Connection welcomes the decision by the Department of Fisheries, Forestry, and Environment (DFFE) to refuse the environmental authorisation was refused for the project in Coega Eastern Cape. This announcement, issued (10 March) by DFFE, comes after the welcome news last
The recent regulation 13 complaint against environmental consultants Triplo4 – submitted by The Green Connection (on 6 March) to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment (DFFE) – exposes a failure to ensure compliance with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations regarding the Proposed Gas to Power Powership Project at the Port of Saldanha Bay.
February 15, 2023 PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF ENERGY OPPOSE LEGALLY BINDING ENERGY PLANNING FOR SOUTH AFRICA (IN RESPONSE TO THE GREEN CONNECTION AND SAFCEI’S COURT CHALLENGE) Following a recent court application (brought in January 2023 ahead of the President’s SONA speech) by The Green Connection and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) –
The Green Connection and Natural Justice (3 February) made its submission on the scoping process of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the proposed offshore Block 11B/12B production right and environmental authorisation project for TotalEnergies EP South Africa (TEEPSA), as part of the public participation process.
Brussels / Paris / Berlin / South Africa, 7 February 2023 – On the eve of the announcement of TotalEnergies’ annual results, five winners of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize called on financial institutions to stop supporting the French major’s oil and gas expansion in Africa which tramples on climate, biodiversity and human rights. This week they presented their call in the European Parliament.
Three weeks into the New Year and South Africa’s energy crisis – the recent announcement of yet
another above-inflation electricity price increase amid increased and persistent loadshedding – has plunged the country into chaos. And while there is a strong call to sue the government and Eskom for loadshedding, two civil society organisations are instead going straight to the source of one of the essential problems with energy planning in South Africa – that a critical piece of legislation has not been brought into operation by the President.
