The Tribunal has -- having considered the application by the South African Energy Forum (SAEF) to intervene in the Tribunal’s proceedings involving the proposed large merger between Thabong Coal (Pty) Ltd and South32 SA Coal Holdings (Pty) Ltd -- dismissed the application.
 
An order as to costs has been reserved.
 
The Tribunal’s reasons for dismissing the SAEF’s intervention application will be given in due course.
 
Background
 
The SAEF describes itself as an informal organisation which, according to it, is a gathering of activists that advocates for, among others, equitable involvement in energy and mining technologies.
 
It had applied to the Tribunal to be an intervenor in the merger proceedings and confirmed its availability on 29 September 2020 for the hearing on 16 October 2020.
 
The SAEF subsequently emailed the Tribunal on 12 and 14 October 2020 indicating that it was no longer available to attend the virtual hearing set down for 16 October 2020 for the reason that it had received “confirmation for [another] meeting” on that day. However, the SAEF did not bring a formal postponement application and was not present during the virtual proceedings.
 
The merger parties argued for the dismissal of the SAEF’s intervention application, among others, for the reasons that the SAEF did not make out a case for intervention and did not indicate how it could be of any assistance to the Tribunal in its consideration of the proposed merger. The merger parties also argued that the SAEF’s intervention application does not provide any detail regarding the constituency it represents.