As communities in South Africa and around the world face increasingly severe weather events, and local households grapple with unaffordable electricity prices, following another major tariff increase, The Green Connection is urging Parliament to withdraw the proposed Gas Bill. The eco-justice organisation warns that the Bill could lock South Africa into long-term fossil-fuel infrastructure, expose electricity consumers to volatile international gas prices, weaken protections for affected communities and landowners, and give the Minister sweeping new powers. Most fundamentally, the Bill is not aligned with South Africa’s climate commitments or the Climate Change Act.
The Green Connection submitted detailed comments on the Bill to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy on 7 August 2026, calling for the legislation to be withdrawn. The proposed legislation would repeal the Gas Act of 2001 and replace it with a new framework intended to promote a gas industry that largely does not yet exist in South Africa.
The Green Connection’s Advocacy Lead, Lisa Makaula says, “The Bill makes no reference to the Climate Change Act, South Africa’s emissions targets or the just transition, despite the need for new legislation to support the country’s climate commitments. It also treats liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a “clean” or “transition” fuel, despite growing scientific concern about methane emissions and the climate impacts of expanding fossil-fuel infrastructure. Since gas licences could be issued for up to 25 years, this could potentially extend well beyond the period in which South Africa has committed to achieving net-zero emissions.”
Natural gas is made up primarily of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming. Over a 20-year period, methane traps roughly 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Reducing methane emissions is therefore considered one of the fastest ways to slow near-term global warming. However, the proposed Gas Bill contains no explicit requirements to monitor, report or limit methane leaks across the gas value chain.
At a time when communities are already experiencing the consequences of a changing climate, The Green Connection says it is deeply concerned that Parliament is considering legislation that could facilitate further fossil-fuel development without adequately addressing these climate risks.
“South Africa has recently experienced severe cold conditions and snowfall in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces, while communities in Europe continue to face record-breaking heat, drought and wildfires. While individual weather events cannot simply be attributed to climate change, scientists have established that a warming climate is increasing the likelihood and intensity of many types of extreme weather,” adds Makaula.
The Bill also raises concerns about affordability because imported LNG is exposed to international markets, where gas prices can be highly volatile. Expanding gas-fired electricity generation could therefore expose South African electricity consumers to global price shocks. According to The Green Connection, these costs could ultimately be passed on to consumers through higher electricity tariffs, placing additional pressure on households already struggling with the cost of living. What South Africans need is an energy future that is affordable, sustainable and aligned with our climate
commitments. Expanding dependence on imported gas seems to be taking us in the opposite direction.
Gas pipeline infrastructure (left/top), rising household utility costs (right/bottom)
According to The Green Connection’s Outreach Ambassador, Neville van Rooy, “Another huge concern is that the Bill could reduce precious public safeguards at precisely the time when communities need a greater say in decisions affecting their lives, livelihoods and land. Repealing the current Gas Act puts existing protections at risk, including requirements relating to fair processes, notification of affected people, local-language advertising and environmental rehabilitation. Too risky for the people, the proposed Bill leaves many of these matters to ministerial discretion, without guaranteeing that equivalent protections will be put in place.”
“The Bill would also give the Minister broad powers, including to determine which activities require licences, granting exemptions and deciding whether to expropriate land. Concentrating these powers in the hands of the Minister, while weakening independent oversight and public participation, could allow decisions about nationally significant infrastructure to be made without sufficient input from the people most directly affected,” says van Rooy.
Land rights, including customary and informal land rights, are a particular concern here because the proposed Bill would allow the Minister to initiate expropriation, while removing or weakening some of these safeguards, whereas under the current framework, expropriation can take place at a licensee’s request, following a public hearing and with compensation provided. The Bill also fails to adequately protect the rights of traditional and Khoi-San communities.
He says, “South Africa’s experience shows why strong protections and meaningful participation are necessary. Communities such as those in Xolobeni have had to fight for years to protect their land, livelihoods and way of life from extractive developments. As an organisation working alongside small-scale fishers and coastal communities, we are particularly concerned that people who could be directly affected by gas infrastructure have not been adequately considered. Small-scale fishing communities, fishing co-operatives and fishing-dependent communities are absent from the Bill’s supporting socio-economic assessment, despite the potential impacts of coastal gas infrastructure on marine ecosystems and livelihoods.”
The Green Connection has raised further concerns about the Final Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS) report supporting the Bill, which appears to belong to an earlier version of the legislation an amendment rather than the proposed repeal-and-replacement of the Gas Act and therefore does not accurately reflect the Bill currently before Parliament. It also uses incorrect clause numbers and predates key developments in South Africa’s climate legislation. Moreover, the assessment does not adequately consider the implications for small-scale fishers, fishing co-operatives and fishing-dependent communities.
The proposed Gas Bill forms part of a broader package of fossil-fuel policy framework currently being advanced in South Africa that is not aligned with the Climate Change Act and could expose taxpayers to significant environmental liabilities. This includes the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development (UPRD) Act, which The Green Connection argues could lock the country into long-term fossil-fuel dependence while sidelining public participation and coastal communities. It also includes the proposed South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC) Bill, which seeks to consolidate state oil and gas assets.
The organisation says these legislative developments should be considered together, rather than as isolated pieces of legislation, because of their potential implications for South Africa’s climate commitments, energy costs, public finances and community livelihoods.
“We urge Parliament to withdraw the Bill and reconsider whether expanding imported gas infrastructure is consistent with South Africa’s climate commitments and broader social and economic objectives. However, should Parliament decide to proceed, the Bill requires substantial amendments to ensure that it is aligned with the Climate Change Act and national emissions targets, and it will be critical to introduce meaningful methane monitoring and reporting requirements. The Bill must protect public participation and environmental safeguards and recognise customary and informal land rights in ways that guarantee fair compensation. Meaningful consultation with communities affected by gas infrastructure must be a requirement. Finally, adequate funding must be made available for decommissioning and environmental rehabilitation,” Makaula concludes.
The Green Connection is also calling for public hearings in affected coastal provinces and for the Bill to be referred to the National Council of Provinces and the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San leaders.
The eco-justice organisation says, “The choices made today will affect generations to come. South Africa cannot afford long-term energy decisions that ignore climate science, community rights and economic realities.”
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