A leading environmentalist group and a faith based activist grouping are filing court papers alleging that Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson ignored state law advisors and acted unconstitutionally and illegally in not submitting the government’s nuclear deal with Russia to parliament as the Constitution requires.

If successful‚ the court case will significantly delay the government’s nuclear new build plan.

And DA MP Gordon Mackay says Joemat-Pettersson or her department may have misled parliament in covering up their actions.

Earthlife Africa (ELA) and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) on Wednesday filed and served a supplementary founding affidavit in their court challenge against the government’s proposed nuclear deal.

Joemat Petterssen has gone on record saying that there will be a transparent‚ fair process when it comes to the nuclear procurement.

But documents uncovered by SAFCEI and ELA as part of their court action reveal a very different story‚ they claim.

President Zuma said in the State of the Nation debate last month that South Africa would build nuclear reactors “on a scale and pace that our country can afford”.

Yet ELA and SAFCEI maintain that an agreement was entered into unlawfully but makes an internationally binding commitment to buy a fleet of nuclear reactors from Russia.