The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has welcomed a Western Cape High Court ruling that reinstated a civil society activist on the board of the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) last week.
Outa said in a statement on Monday that the ruling clarified the board’s role in ensuring safety standards rather than advocating for nuclear energy.
The court found that Peter Becker’s engagements with civil society organisations during his board tenure, in his capacity as a civil society member and not a board member, did not amount to a conflict of interest and that his removal from the board was unconstitutional and unlawful.
Becker, a well-known activist in the energy space, from Koeberg Alert Alliance, was appointed to the NNR board in April 2021 as the civil society representative of communities affected by nuclear activities in terms of the NNR Act. His appointment had followed campaigning by civil society, including Outa, for a civil society representative on the board after government had ignored the legal requirement. Outa supported his appointment.
However, in January 2022 Becker was blocked from board meetings and the day the board controversially approved the replacement of the Koeberg steam generators, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe suspended him and then formally dismissed him on February 15, 2022. Becker challenged this in court, resulting in last week’s judgement in his favour.
Outa said it was elated by the judgement, although the minister could still appeal the ruling,
“What is more important is that this judgement reflects the significance of the independence of National Nuclear Regulator board members. In a different capacity, Peter Becker is the spokesperson of the Koeberg Alert Alliance, which is generally opposed to nuclear energy in South Africa. The judgement supposes that a board member’s stance towards (or against) nuclear energy is moot. The primary function of the NNR is to ensure that nuclear power plants comply with the relevant safety standards,” Brendan Slade, Outa legal project manager, said.
“The role of the NNR is not to propagate for the roll-out, or curtailing, of nuclear energy, but to regulate. The judgement will help pioneer much-needed independence of government boards. This will foster a culture of transparency, and with transparency comes good governance,” Slade said.
Outa applauded Becker’s resilience and courage in combatting a government decision which was “irrational and not within the public interest."
