The matter concerning Minister Mantashe dismissing Peter Becker from the Board of the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) will be heard in the Western Cape High Court on 9 November 2022. Becker is asking that the decision to dismiss him is reviewed and set aside.

After receiving answering affidavits from Minister Mantashe and also from the Chair of the National Nuclear Regulator, Peter Becker has submitted a replying affidavit in response to the new points raised in the two answering affidavits.

Below is the text of the Replying Affidavit from Becker, which is now in the public court record.

Minister Mantashe has submitted an affidavit to the High Court in response to a high court application by Peter Becker to review the decision by the Minister to dismiss him from the Board of the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR). Previous posts included the Founding Affidavit, the Supplementary Founding Affidavit and the Answering Affidavit from the NNR and NNR Board Chair. This is the only opportunity for the Minister to present evidence to the court.

The affidavit expresses the view that the function of NNR Board members is to ““Loyally execute the policies of the government of the day” which includes the life extension of Koeberg. The Minister characterises resistance to this plan as “political opposition”, misconduct, and a justified basis for dismissal.

Below is the text of the Answering Affidavit from Minister Mantashe, which is now in the public court record.

In April 2021 Peter Becker launched a high court application to review the decision by Minister Mantashe to dismiss him from the Board of the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR). Previous posts included the Founding Affidavit and the Supplementary Founding Affidavit. After requesting and being granted a three week extension to the deadline, the Chair of the NNR Board, as the second respondent, and the NNR itself as the third, supplied their combined answering affidavit on 1 August 2022. This is the only opportunity for them to present evidence to the court.

Below is the text of the combined Answering Affidavit from the NNR Board Chair, which is now in the public court record:

In April 2021 Peter Becker launched a high court application to review the decision by Minister Mantashe to dismiss him from the Board of the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR). A previous post included the Record of Decision which is a complete record of all the information which the Minister considered when he made the decision. According to the rules of the court, this allowed Becker to supplement his founding affidavit to address any new information which came to light via the release of the Record of Decision.

Below is the full text of that Supplementary Founding Affidavit (SFA).

After appointing Peter Becker to the Board of the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) in June 2021, Minister Mantashe fired him in February 2022. Becker has launched an application in the High Court to have this decision reviewed. This includes a call for the record of the decision, according to Rule 53 of the Uniform Rules of Court. The logic behind this rule is that a court cannot be expected to determine if a decision is rational without seeing what was before the decision maker at the time.

Thirty three documents comprising the record have been released by the Minister via the State Attorney, and are now part of the public court record. These documents are also available at the bottom of this article.

After appointing Peter Becker to the Board of the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) in June 2021, Minister Mantashe fired him in February 2022. Becker has launched an application in the High Court to have this decision reviewed. If successful, it would mean that he would return to his position on the NNR Board.

The Minister’s decision to discharge Becker was based on a complaint in July 2021, shortly after he was appointed. The founding affidavit (linked below) submitted to the court paints a picture of a decision by the Minister based on unsubstantiated allegations combined with a misunderstanding of the role of the NNR.