Newly appointed Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George has ruled in favour of the controversial Turkish powerships proposal for Richards Bay harbour. His decision comes despite strong indications from Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa that the entire Karpowership plan is dead in the water.

Listen to this article 10 min Listen to this article 10 min In a written decision signed on 17 July, the newly appointed minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, senior Democratic Alliance party member Dion George, dismissed an appeal by two environmental justice groups against his department's decision to grant environmental authorisation to Karpowership to moor two powerships in Richards Bay harbour to supply "emergency power" to the Eskom grid.

In his 187-page ruling, George rejected all 15 grounds of appeal by the Centre for Environmental Rights, acting on behalf of groundWork and the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA).

advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove adsGeorge appears to have been legally obliged to make a ruling on the appeal, even if his decision is rendered academic by other approval hurdles facing Karpowership.

Significantly, however, George's political party has previously voiced strong criticism of what it described as the ANC government "bending over backwards to ensure that the Karpowership deal is pushed through at all costs".

Now, George's decision has raised questions about whether the Turkish company has indeed thrown in the towel for good -- or is still hoping to salvage its plans to supply "emergency" powerships...