{"id":644896,"date":"2026-05-03T21:27:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T19:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=644896"},"modified":"2026-05-04T16:44:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:44:43","slug":"small-millionaire-town-in-south-africa-fighting-against-nuclear-power-station-on-its-doorstep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/energy\/644896-small-millionaire-town-in-south-africa-fighting-against-nuclear-power-station-on-its-doorstep.html","title":{"rendered":"Small millionaire town in South Africa fighting against nuclear power station on its doorstep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Residents from St Francis Bay, a holiday town in the Eastern Cape, are fighting against a 5,200 MW nuclear power station proposed by Eskom on its doorstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St Francis Bay has a rich history which dates back to 1488 when Bartolomeu Dias named the bay Golfo dos Pastores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1575, the Portuguese navigator and cartographer, Manuel Perestrelo, changed the name to Bahia de S\u00e3o Francisco, which later became St Francis Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It became a popular fishing village, but was transformed after Leighton Hulett bought land and developed its famous man-made canal system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had a vision of a marina and a unique holiday village, and established strict building codes that remain legendary in South African urban planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All homes in the original village and canal area were required to have white walls and black roofs, which gave the town a unique and attractive look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St Francis Bay gained international fame in the mid-1960s through Bruce Brown’s iconic surf documentary, The Endless Summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film showcased a perfect wave found at a point in the bay, which was subsequently named Bruce’s Beauties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, St Francis Bay is a popular holiday and retirement town, referred to as the “Jewel of the Eastern Cape” by residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its extensive man-made canal system remains a primary drawcard for many wealthy people who move there to retire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most homes on the canals have private moorings, and it is common to see residents travelling to restaurants or visiting neighbours by boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also a vital centre for South Africa’s Chokka (squid). It has a privately owned working harbour that hosts a commercial chokka fleet alongside luxury yachts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St Francis Bay residents are not happy with nuclear power plant plans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Eskom is moving ahead with its plan to build a new 5,200 MW nuclear power station at Thyspunt, located between Oyster Bay and Cape St Francis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent Draft Environmental Scoping Report, prepared by WSP Group Africa for Eskom, officially recommended Thyspunt as the preferred site for a nuclear plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report highlighted that Thyspunt is technically superior because the land is already owned by Eskom, it is appropriately zoned, and has a ready-made power grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft scoping report is open for public review and comment, the first step toward a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are challenges. In January 2025, the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) declared the Thyspunt properties a provisional cultural landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It recognised the area as a ‘coastal cradle of humankind’, containing well-preserved shell middens and archaeological sites that track early human behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local squid industry also raised concerns that the sand and debris pumped into the ocean during construction will destroy the delicate spawning grounds of the squid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents further feel that a large industrial nuclear complex will destroy the wilderness brand of St Francis Bay and Oyster Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organisations like the Thyspunt Alliance and the Gamtkwa Khoisan Council have proposed an alternative vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They put forward a vision of a World Heritage site and national park linking Thyspunt to the Klasies River Caves, focusing on human origins tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thyspunt Alliance leader Trudi Malan explains<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Thyspunt Alliance leader Trudi Malan told Biznews<\/a> that their opposition to the nuclear development in the area stretches back decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that the site was selected during the apartheid government’s time, where different considerations were important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These considerations included that the site could not be too close to a homeland for security reasons, which are now no longer relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that the environmental and heritage protections were far weaker when the sites were first chosen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Eskom started buying up land in preparation for the new nuclear power station in the region, and she said it is now dead set on using this site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said Eskom’s public consultation process has been inadequate, and that residents’ concerns have largely been ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’ve been submitting comments and responding to the environmental impact assessment since I started living here, which is nearly 25 years,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The community has turned up for the meetings to give their inputs with very good questions that could not be answered.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At the moment, we don’t think it’s a fair process. It does not address half of the issues of the current scoping phase.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite concerns about limited consultation, Malan said residents have shown strong engagement and opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that from a biodiversity perspective, it is an important site with systems that can have downstream impacts on communities and water security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safety concerns remain a major sticking point, particularly around evacuation. “There’s only one road leading out of the town,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malan said that a legal battle is increasingly likely as they prepare detailed submissions challenging the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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St Francis Bay photos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Residents from St Francis Bay, a holiday town in the Eastern Cape, are fighting against a 5,200 MW nuclear power station proposed by Eskom on its doorstep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":644898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27995],"tags":[104970,104971,181,85605,104969,66248,104974,104973,104972],"class_list":["post-644896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-cape-st-francis","tag-draft-environmental-scoping-report","tag-eskom","tag-nuclear-power-station","tag-oyster-bay","tag-st-francis-bay","tag-thyspunt-alliance","tag-trudi-malan","tag-wsp-group-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644896"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644896"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":645135,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644896\/revisions\/645135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}