S. African court declares government's nuclear deal unlawful

The High Court in the Western Cape ruled on Wednesday that the South African government's nuclear deal is "unconstitutional and unlawful."

The court ordered the government to set aside the deal which would see the procurement of 9.6 gigawatts of nuclear energy.

The deal is expected to cost one trillion rand (about 77.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Judge Lee Bozalek said the government had flouted due process by not first debating in Parliament its decision.

Earthlife Africa, an environmental organization, fielded the case in October 2015, arguing that the government's nuclear power deal was not first debated in Parliament and that the public had not been consulted.

Earthlife Africa also argues that taxpayers could not afford the deal.

Following the ruling, the organization said the judgment vindicates its argument that the government had failed to follow a lawful process to proceed with the deal.

The government has not responded to the ruling yet.

The South African cabinet approved the deal in December 2015.

Preparations have been already underway for the bidding. Russia and the United States are believed to be front runners to win the bid.

The South African government reportedly has signed an agreement with the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation, Rosatom, to develop nuclear energy.

The South African government has been pursuing the nuclear program to make up power shortage which is expected to stall growth in gross domestic product (GDP). Endit