Minister acted illegally on Russia nuke deal – papers

As government prepares to build nuclear power stations, civil society is revealing, and fighting back against, increasing levels of alleged dishonesty around procurement, writes Legalbrief. A leading environmentalist group and a faith-based activist grouping are filing court papers alleging that Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson ignored state law advisers and acted illegally in not submitting the government's nuclear deal with Russia to Parliament as the Constitution requires, says a TimesLIVE report. Earthlife Africa (ELA) and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) last week filed and served a supplementary founding affidavit in their challenge of the government’s proposed nuclear deal. Joemat-Pettersson has gone on record saying that there will be a transparent‚ fair process when it comes to the nuclear procurement. But documents uncovered by SAFCEI and ELA as part of their court action reveal a different story‚ they claim. The report says the two groups maintain that an agreement was entered into unlawfully but makes an internationally binding commitment to buy a fleet of nuclear reactors from Russia.