South Africa will delay the launch of a procurement process for a new nuclear power station to allow for more consultation, energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said on Friday, following legal challenges.

The government said in December last year that it was preparing to request bids for an extra 2.5GW of nuclear power, but the then-opposition Democratic Alliance and two non-governmental organisations launched legal challenges to try to block the procurement.

The DA is now part of the country’s unity government formed after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in three decades in an election in May.

Addressing reporters on Friday, Ramokgopa conceded there should have been greater public participation in the process. He said he had decided to withdraw a document in the Government Gazette that would have allowed the procurement to proceed.

Officials will rework a report addressing conditions the energy regulator gave for its support for the procurement and consult the public again.

Ramokgopa made clear that the government still wanted to expand its nuclear capacity beyond the 1.9GW Koeberg plant outside Cape Town at a pace and scale the country could afford.

“Nuclear is part of the future, but it’s important that as we go out and procure, the procurement process must be able to stand the test of time,” the minister said. He estimated the procurement process could be delayed by three to six months.

Wary

Many South Africans are wary of the government’s nuclear ambitions after a 9.6GW deal with Russia initiated during Jacob Zuma’s scandal-plagued presidency was thwarted in 2017 by a court challenge.

South Africans have struggled with power outages for years, but this year there has been a marked improvement in power availability with no power cuts for more than four months.