An appeal from environmental groups was upheld by acting minister Lindiwe Zulu - at least for now.
The Watson family’s planned wind farm near Uitenhage has been put on hold by Acting Environmental Affairs Minister Lindiwe Zulu. Photo: Pixabay user www_slon_pics The controversial decision to grant environmental authorisation for the Watson family’s massive wind farm project on the summit of the Groot Winterhoek mountains near Uitenhage has been overturned – at least temporarily.
According to recent testimony at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture, Mokonyane was deeply involved in a corrupt relationship with the Bosasa group of companies headed by Gavin Watson. There were concerns that this had created an unacceptable conflict of interest for her as she was the appeal authority in the family’s wind farm application.
Announcing her decision in an 11-page letter, Zulu said it was not necessary for her to deal individually with every aspect of the appeals and the developer’s responses. However, she noted that the developer had stated in response that the appellants had “comprehensively failed to demonstrate” that the Environmental Impact Assessment process was “unlawful, unreasonable, or procedurally unfair”. Also, “extensive and stringent” conditions had been imposed by the department in its authorisation, in order to manage the risks. According to the developer, its application “fully complied” with its statutory and regulatory obligations.
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