‘Activists say draft electricity plan will deepen energy poverty’ 7 April 2024

The government’s draft blueprint to tackle the energy crisis in South Africa supports substantial fossil fuel-based generation that is likely to worsen energy poverty and must be rejected, according to the Life After Coal campaign. This is contained in their comments on the draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2023, which the campaign, together with Black Girls Rising, was recently submitted to the department of mineral resources and energy. According to their submission, by failing to lay out, motivate and adopt a clear least-cost pathway, and by not accounting for the costs of externalities “and thereby overlooking the hidden costs in a fossil fuel heavy generation mix”, the IRP 2023 will exacerbate energy poverty.

…The draft IRP 2023 is not a fit-for-purpose electricity resource plan. “It does not align with a just transition, and fails to meet the fundamental needs of ensuring a reliable electricity delivery system at least cost and per, inter alia, the constitution and the Bill of Rights,” they said. As an exercise of public power, the adoption of an IRP is subject to the principle of legality. “As such an IRP 2023 must be rationally connected to its purpose, it must not contravene any section of the constitution or relevant legislation, and it must be subject to reasonable public participation as demanded by the circumstances.” On these bases, they said, the IRP 2023 is vulnerable to challenges based on the “failure to meet the necessary standards of legality”.

…It is the constitutional imperative of the government to ensure that people in South Africa are protected against these effects — that their rights enshrined in the constitution are upheld and protected. “There is no justifiable basis on which the rights to life, dignity, and an environment not harmful to health and wellbeing could be limited by plans to develop further fossil fuel capacity, where less harmful alternatives are available. Further, economic development and sustainable livelihoods will be compromised in a country devastated by the effects of climate change.” In the next 10 years, significant ambition is needed to sufficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the necessary trajectory range and to get South Africa where it needs to be to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis.