[miningmx.com] — BUSINESS news daily Sake24’s drawn-out application for information against Eskom and mining giant BHP Billiton has been successful.
Judge Frans Kgomo of the South Gauteng High Court ruled on Friday that Sake24 was entitled to information that was first requested about two years ago in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
According to the court order, public interest requires Eskom and Billiton to hand over the following information:
• The formula used to determine the price that Billiton pays for electricity for its Mozal and Hillside aluminium smelters;
• The duration of these contracts;
• The names of the individuals who signed these contracts on behalf of Eskom and Billiton.
The information would show the amounts which BHP Billiton has paid for electricity used at its aluminium smelters in Richards Bay and Mozambique.
Billiton opposed the providing of the information.
Sake24 editor Ryk van Niekerk said he was “relieved and delighted’ at the decision. “In view of the uncertainty about Eskom’s ability to supply the country’s electricity needs, this is really a case that is in the public interest, and we pursued it to the very end.’
Willem de Klerk, Sake24’s attorney, said it appeared from the court ruling that the information must be handed over immediately. “The court will usually set a cut-off date by which the order must be complied with, but in this case no cut-off date was given. The information must therefore be handed over.’
He said he would contact Billiton’s legal representatives on Friday afternoon. BHP Billiton and Eskom would also have to pay the legal costs.
Eskom spokesperson Hilary Joffe said the power utility would not seek to appeal the verdict. Mnr. Ruban Yogarajah, spokesperson for BHP Billiton, said the company would consider an appeal once it had examined the judgment.
