The South African Federation of Trade Unions warmly welcomes the decision of the Cape Town High Court that the government’s agreement with Russia to build nuclear plants is unlawful and unconstitutional and should be set aside.

SAFTU sees this nuclear deal as another example of the government subverting democratic processes by not referring to Parliament for endorsement or holding any public debate on, an agreement which they had already referred to as a done deal with Russian companies

This has led to serious allegations that the R1 trillion deal, the details of which are still secret, involved corruption between South African and Russian government and business leaders, including the Gupta family.

The federation’s Launching Congress on 21-23 April agreed to step up the campaign against nuclear energy and develop a position on transition to socially owned renewable energy. Nuclear energy is both excessively expensive and dangerous.

By coincidence the Court judgement was delivered on the exact anniversary of the disaster at Chernobyl in Ukraine, on 26 April 1986, which caused 49 immediate deaths and a total of up to 4000 deaths of people in the affected from radiation exposure, accident from trauma, acute radiation poisoning and thyroid cancer.

SAFTU demands that the government accepts the court’s ruling and scraps the deal.

Issued by SAFTU