In an early victory for CancelCoal applicants, the Pretoria High Court on December 12 ordered Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to release records relating to the decision to include new coal-fired power in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), and to the 2020 Ministerial determination for new coal issued under the IRP.

The court has ordered the Minister to release the documents in question and ordered government to pay costs, clearing the way for the main CancelCoal case to proceed, says the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), which represented the environmental applicants in the case, namely the African Climate Alliance, the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action and groundWork.

The application was brought before the court to compel disclosure of the records in the Pretoria High Court on November 16, 2022. The applicants brought this application after the Minister refused to make these documents available, as required under court rules.

The requested records include the modelling and cost assumptions that informed the plans for 1 500 MW of new coal, as well as the details of the coal power technologies considered, the CER says.

“In addition to coal power causing pollution and exacerbating climate change, it is now far cheaper and speedier for Eskom to buy electricity generated from renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, than it is to buy electricity from any proposed new coal power station,” the applicants argue.

The court held that “the documents sought by the applicants may well shed light on the reviewability of the IRP 2019”, and “also be relevant to those decisions which are sought to be set aside”, which refers to the decisions to include new coal in the 2019 IRP and to issue a determination for new coal in 2020.

According to the court order, the Minister must release the documents in question by close of business on February 28. Should he fail to do so, the applicants may return to court at which time they may also seek to strike out government's opposition to the main case. In other words, the applicants will be entitled to proceed with the case against the Minister, without his opposition.

Further, government must pay the applicants’ costs for the application.

“As soon as we receive the records from the Minister, we will be in a position to consider and determine what informed the Minister’s decision to develop new coal power. The applicants will then have an opportunity to supplement their court papers in the Constitutional challenge and review of the plans to develop new coal power,” says CER attorney Michelle Sithole.

“We are delighted with this outcome. We need these records in order to shed light on the decisions made by the Minister to call for new coal power – a decision which affects us all,” adds Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action activist Ronald Mhlakaza.

“The fact that the court provided clarity and compelled government to release information sends a strong message that the youth of South Africa's right to transparency and information that affects their future is essential," says African Climate Alliance CancelCoal campaigner Sibusiso Mazomba.

“This is a victory for our call for an open democracy. Governance decisions, and the reasons for these decisions, must be in the public domain so those in power can be accountable for their decisions to all of us in South Africa,” comments groundWork Mpumalanga Highveld campaigner Thomas Mnguni.