Cape Town - The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy says it is studying the Western Cape High Court ruling in favour of Koeberg Alert Alliance spokesperson Peter Becker being reinstated as a non-executive director of the National Nuclear Regulator’s (NNR) board.
Reacting to the ruling by Judge Babalwa Mantame, the department said it would take advice from its legal team.
In his judgment, Judge Mantame said Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe’s decision to discharge Becker last January was “unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid”.
Anti-nuclear activist Becker was dismissed by Mantashe nine months after he was appointed as a public representative on the board.
The appointment came as a result of him being nominated by a number of civil society organisations including the KAA, the Southern African Faith Communities Environmental Institute, and the Pelindaba Working Group.
Asked why he initiated the court case, Becker said: “I believed the minister did not understand the law correctly when it came to the NNR, and it was in the public interest to get clarity from the courts. The court’s ruling was strongly supportive of that belief.”
Meanwhile, civil society activists have hailed the judgment as a step forward for good governance.
The Green Connection’s strategic lead Liz McDaid said Becker’s removal had been “political interference at its worst” and a reason the NNR should be placed under a minister with environmental safety at its core.
“Good governance means effective oversight and you cannot have effective oversight if those who interrogate nuclear decisions, demand accountability, and promote safety are targeted,” she said.
The Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute’s director Francesca de Gasparis said community interests had been excluded from governance and decision-making in the NNR since Becker’s removal.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse’s (Outa) legal project manager Brendan Slade applauded Becker’s “resilience and courage in combating a government decision which was irrational and not in the public interest”.
Slade said Outa believes the judgment would assist in the pioneering of much-needed independence of government boards.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za