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The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), on behalf of Earthlife Africa and groundWork, submitted formal objections on 14 June 2022 to the Integrated Water Use Licence Application (IWULA) for Phase 2A of the Mokolo Crocodile River (West) Water Augmentation Project (MCWAP-2A). The CER argues that the project is an unnecessary inter-basin transfer designed to support coal expansion, which contradicts South Africa's climate commitments and poses severe risks to aquatic ecosystems and local communities.

This document is a formal appeal submitted by the Centre for Environmental Rights on behalf of Earthlife Africa and groundWork to the Minister of Environmental Affairs. The appeal seeks to set aside an Environmental Authorisation granted on 15 March 2019 to the Department of Water and Sanitation for Phase 2A of the Mokolo and Crocodile River (West) Augmentation Project (MCWAP-2A). The appellants argue that the project is unnecessary, environmentally damaging, and based on outdated energy demand assumptions.

The Freshwater Research Centre (FRC) conducted a review of the Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report (DEIR) for the Mokolo and Crocodile River (West) Water Augmentation Project (Phase 2A). The FRC concludes that the assessment of operational phase impacts on aquatic ecosystems is inadequate, particularly regarding water quality, hydrology, and the transfer of invasive biota between catchments.