GROUNDWORK TRUST V THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND OTHERS (CASE NO. 61561/17) ACWA POWER KHANYISA ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION

A letter from the State Attorney in Pretoria states that ACWA Power Khanyisa unlawfully commenced activities without meeting specific conditions of its Environmental Authorisation, including obtaining a Water Use Licence and approval for an amended design. Consequently, the State Attorney asserts that the Environmental Authorisation lapsed on 31 October 2018, making a pending review application moot.

• The Office of the State Attorney asserts that ACWA Power Khanyisa commenced listed activities without fulfilling two peremptory conditions of its Environmental Authorisation (EA). Condition 27 required obtaining a Water Use Licence from the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) if wetlands or water resources were impacted, and Condition 39.2 prohibited construction from commencing before the Director: Licensing approved the agreed amendment design for the Khanyisa Coal Power Station, as referenced in a DWA Engineer's letter dated 11 June 2013.
• The State Attorney concludes that ACWA's commencement of activities was unlawful due to the failure to meet these conditions. Because these conditions were suspensive, the unlawful start of activities did not prevent the Environmental Authorisation from lapsing.
• The Environmental Authorisation for the project lapsed on 31 October 2018, which the State Attorney claims renders the pending review application moot.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2019). GROUNDWORK TRUST V THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND OTHERS (CASE NO. 61561/17) ACWA POWER KHANYISA ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Annexure-1.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. GROUNDWORK TRUST V THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND OTHERS (CASE NO. 61561/17) ACWA POWER KHANYISA ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION. 2019. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Annexure-1.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=GROUNDWORK TRUST V THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND OTHERS (CASE NO. 61561/17) ACWA POWER KHANYISA ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION |date=20 September 2019 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Annexure-1.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2019groundwork, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{GROUNDWORK TRUST V THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND OTHERS (CASE NO. 61561/17) ACWA POWER KHANYISA ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Annexure-1.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }