The Supreme Court of Appeal will decide on August 19 on a government challenge to a landmark court judgement on plans for a 1500 megawatt coal fired power plant.
A watershed legal battle that placed children’s rights at the center of energy planning reaches a decisive climax on August 19, when the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) hears the government’s challenge to a landmark climate judgment.
The Minister of Electricity and Energy is seeking to overturn a High Court ruling that declared plans for 1,500 megawatts (MW) of new coal-fired power unconstitutional, setting up a high-stakes showdown over intergenerational justice and constitutional duty.
The case, widely known as the #CancelCoal campaign, was mounted by youth activists from the African Climate Alliance (ACA) alongside environmental justice groups Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action (VEM) and groundWork (gW).
In December 2024, High Court Judge Cornelius van der Westhuizen delivered a striking verdict, setting aside the coal procurement targets laid out in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), the Ministerial Determination under section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act, and the concurrence by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).
