APPEAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 43(1A) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998 AGAINST THE DECISION RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION GRANTED TO AFRO ENERGY (PTY) LTD ON 23 JUNE 2025

The Free State Environmental Justice Network (FSEJN) has filed an appeal to the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to set aside an environmental authorisation (EA) granted on 23 June 2025 to Afro Energy (Pty) Ltd. The EA allows for the exploration of conventional natural gas across approximately 240,000 hectares in the Free State and Mpumalanga provinces. FSEJN argues that the decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) was unlawful, irrational, and failed to adequately assess climate, air quality, geohydrological, and socio-economic impacts, while also neglecting meaningful public participation.

• The appellant argues that the Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) is fundamentally flawed because it uses an unrepresentative historical baseline (1995-2014), omits significant emissions sources such as methane from flaring, and uses an outdated Global Warming Potential (GWP) value of 23 for methane instead of the current IPCC value of 29.8.
• The Air Quality Impact Assessment (AQIA) is claimed to be insufficient as it omits background air pollution data from the Standerton SAAQIS monitor and fails to assess Ozone (O3) pollution, despite Standerton's 1-hour ozone concentrations exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for over 480 hours in 2025.
• The Geohydrology Impact Assessment (GIA) is alleged to be defective because it assumes uniform soil porosity (0.05) and ignores fracture permeability, which the appellant asserts leads to inaccurate predictions of contaminant spread in the region's shale, mudstone, and siltstone rocks.
• The socio-economic analysis is criticized for failing to provide concrete data on how exploration would disrupt agricultural cycles and the livelihoods of farm workers and dwellers, and for underestimating the potential loss of tourism revenue in the Free State and Mpumalanga provinces.
• The appellant contends that the project's 'need and desirability' assessment is inadequate as it focuses on short-term economic feasibility and energy demand while ignoring the risk of 'stranded assets' and the global transition toward net-zero emissions.
• The public participation process is described as flawed due to the failure to provide information in isiZulu, despite it being the most commonly used language in the region (e.g., 48% of the population in Standerton), and the exclusion of vulnerable farm workers and dwellers.
• The appeal asserts that the state lacks the capacity to monitor and enforce compliance for the project, noting that all 94 designated Environmental Mineral Resource Inspectors (EMRIs) in South Africa are designated for mining, with none for the oil and gas sector.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2025). APPEAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 43(1A) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998 AGAINST THE DECISION RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION GRANTED TO AFRO ENERGY (PTY) LTD ON 23 JUNE 2025. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Annexure-A.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. APPEAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 43(1A) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998 AGAINST THE DECISION RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION GRANTED TO AFRO ENERGY (PTY) LTD ON 23 JUNE 2025. 2025. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Annexure-A.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=APPEAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 43(1A) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998 AGAINST THE DECISION RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION GRANTED TO AFRO ENERGY (PTY) LTD ON 23 JUNE 2025 |date=2025 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Annexure-A.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2025appeal, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{APPEAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 43(1A) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998 AGAINST THE DECISION RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION GRANTED TO AFRO ENERGY (PTY) LTD ON 23 JUNE 2025}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2025}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Annexure-A.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }