Government finally replies to nuclear court case

Government has finally responded to Earthlife Africa Johannesburg (ELA) and SAFCEI's court papers.   The court case was launched in October 2015, and government has drawn out the process of responding, initially delaying in parting with any information to  back up to their decision, as required by court rules.

Only after SAFCEI and ELA’s legal team issued  warning letters, threatening to go to court to force them to respond, did Government finally reply.  The reply was received last week.

SAFCEI and ELA’s legal team is currently working through the large volume of government legal responses, comprising 700 pages of affidavit and annexures.

ISSUED BY SAFCEI and Earthlife Africa Johannesburg 12 June 2016

For further information, please contact

Ms Liz McDaid (SAFCEI)                     Ms Dominique Doyle (ELA-Jhb)

Email: liziwe@mweb.co.za                  email: dominique@earthlife.org.za

Cell: 082 731 5643                                   cell: 079 331 2028

Note for journalists:

Originally, the government announced that the Russian agreement was a done deal but later backtracked after public outcry, and now, according to President Zuma, claims that South Africa would build nuclear reactors “on a scale and pace that our country can afford”[1].  ELA/SAFCEI maintain, as per our founding papers, that the Russian agreement was entered into unlawfully but makes internationally binding commitment to buy a fleet of nuclear reactors from Russia.

On 21 December 2015, the DoE gazetted the 2013 section 34 determination, supposedly allowing the Department to go ahead and start a procurement process to buy nuclear reactors.

Supporting documentation provided to SAFCEI and ELA's legal team on the 16th February 2016 revealed this deliberate attempt by DoE to keep the public in the dark about its nuclear procurement process.

Our founding affidavit can be downloaded at: http://earthlife.org.za/2015/10/in-the-high-court-of-south-africa-western-cape-division-cape-town-3/ and on http://safcei.org/latest-update-on-our-nuclear-court-action/ .

SAFCEI www.safcei.org

Earthlife Africa Joburg   www.earthlife.org.za

Lawyers representing ELA-JHB and SAFCEI are Adrian Pole and Associates.

[1] President Jacob Zuma, State of the Nation Address, 2016