Cape Town - Environmental activists protested at the Tableview offices of South Africa’s National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) on Thursday, demanding transparency on the possible dismissal of Koeberg Alert Alliance (KAA) activist Peter Becker as a director of the NNR.
Becker was suspended from the nuclear regulator’s board by Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe in January over allegations of conflict of interest, which he denies. He has served on the board since last year as a representative of civil society.
On Tuesday Mantashe sent a letter to Becker setting Friday as a deadline for Becker to show cause as to why he should not be dismissed.
“You are the spokesperson of the KAA, an organisation vehemently opposed to nuclear energy in general, and to the extension of the life of Koeberg in particular. In this regard, you have on more than one occasion publicly spoken out against the extension of the life of Koeberg.”
Mantashe said Becker had repeatedly been assured by the NNR board chairperson that any decision on the extension of the life of Koeberg would only be taken once the public and all stakeholders had been consulted, and strictly in compliance with the requirements of the law.
“It appears to me that you may be impossibly conflicted in your respective roles, as an anti-nuclear activist and as a member of the board,” Mantashe said.
On Thursday Francesca de Gasparis, executive director of the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute, said the picket was staged outside the NNR offices in protest against Mantashe’s action.
“We don’t believe a community representative has to be pronuclear to be on the board of a regulator. In fact, he is there to make sure that nuclear energy is done correctly.”
She said Becker was exactly the sort of person to serve on the board as he was asking the difficult questions that needed to be asked.
Another of the picketers, Project90by2030 spokesperson Gabriel Klaasen, said they were calling for transparency from the NNR and Becker’s reinstatement to the board.
“We don’t believe that Minister Mantashe and the NNR are being completely honest. What they call conflict of interest is actually accountability and transparency.”
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za