Richards Bay Gas: Turning a court defeat into a national strategy

SOUTH Africa has now crossed more than 140 consecutive days without load-shedding. For many, this represents a reprieve, a breathing space after years of rolling blackouts that drained an estimated 3 percent of GDP annually and eroded investor confidence across every sector of the economy.

- NOMVULA ZELDAH MABUZA

It is also a signal to markets that reform and improvement are possible, though still fragile. Yet the Supreme Court of Appeal’s recent decision to overturn Eskom’s authorisation for a 3 000 MW gas plant at Richards Bay is a reminder that our energy future remains exposed. The court did not reject gas as an energy pathway. It rejected the procedural and governance shortcomings that shaped the project.

This points directly to South Africa's central dilemma: why, in a continent rich with gas reserves and new LNG infrastructure, does our policy environment remain paralysed? The answer lies in fragmentation, where approvals are divided across multiple authorities, each capable of delaying projects on technical grounds.

It lies in legal vulnerability, where environmental impact assessments collapse in court because they fail to address cumulative impacts or plausible alternatives. It lies in narrow framing, where gas and renewables are presented as adversaries rather than as complementary parts of a balanced system. And it lies in external pressures, where advanced economies that built prosperity on hydrocarbons now expect South Africa to leapfrog directly into renewables while our own developmental path is constrained by unemployment, costly baseload and persistent energy poverty.

The court's judgement highlighted three shortcomings. Eskom had not credibly assessed whether renewables combined with storage could replicate the duty cycle of gas, particularly in managing evening ramps and winter peaks.

It had neglected to quantify the broader climate impact of the project, including methane emissions across the value chain. It had failed to deliver meaningful consultation in isiZulu, undermining the legitimacy of the process. These are not flaws in the role of gas. They are gaps in governance. Corrected, they could render projects more credible, investable and socially durable.