OBJECTIONS TO THE INTEGRATED WATER USE LICENCE APPLICATION FOR PROPOSED IPP THABAMETSI POWER STATION

The Centre for Environmental Rights, acting for Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, submitted formal objections on 20 January 2017 to the Integrated Water Use Licence Application (IWULA) for the proposed Thabametsi power station, a 1200MW coal-fired project near Lephalale, Limpopo. The objections argue that the application is legally flawed, relies on outdated data, fails to secure a sustainable water supply for the project's 40-year lifespan, and poses significant risks to groundwater and wetlands.

• There is a significant risk of groundwater contamination because the proposed ash dump and stockpile are planned for location on major fault zones, which the Groundwater Impact Study identifies as "major contaminant transport pathways."
• The project poses risks to local wetlands that are allegedly misrepresented in the IWULA. While the applicant claims no footprint will impact wetlands, transmission lines and raw water pipelines are planned to pass through wetland areas and their buffer zones.
• The project's water security is considered tenuousLSSSSSS-unstable because it relies on a speculative future water transfer scheme, the Mokolo Crocodile Water Augmentation Project Phase 2 (MCWAP2). The project's EIA process for MCWAP2 is incomplete, and the scheme has faced significant technical delays.
• The project may exacerbate existing water constraints in the Mokolo catchment, where allocations already exceed the historic firm yield of 38.7 million m3 per annum. This could jeopardize water for agriculture, domestic use, and other infrastructure like the Medupi power station.
• The consultants who authored the IWULAR and IWWMP, Johan Maré and Dwayne Miller, are allegedly not registered with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP), which is a requirement for practicing in their respective fields of microbiology and environmental science.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2017). OBJECTIONS TO THE INTEGRATED WATER USE LICENCE APPLICATION FOR PROPOSED IPP THABAMETSI POWER STATION. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Annexure-3-IWULA-ELA-Objections-on-Thabametsi.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. OBJECTIONS TO THE INTEGRATED WATER USE LICENCE APPLICATION FOR PROPOSED IPP THABAMETSI POWER STATION. 2017. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Annexure-3-IWULA-ELA-Objections-on-Thabametsi.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=OBJECTIONS TO THE INTEGRATED WATER USE LICENCE APPLICATION FOR PROPOSED IPP THABAMETSI POWER STATION |date=20 January 2017 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Annexure-3-IWULA-ELA-Objections-on-Thabametsi.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2017objections, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{OBJECTIONS TO THE INTEGRATED WATER USE LICENCE APPLICATION FOR PROPOSED IPP THABAMETSI POWER STATION}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2017}, month = jan, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Annexure-3-IWULA-ELA-Objections-on-Thabametsi.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }