The government said in December last year that it was preparing to request bids for an extra 2.5GW of nuclear power, but the then-opposition Democratic Alliance and two non-governmental organisations launched legal challenges to try to block the procurement.
The DA is now part of the countrys unity government formed after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in three decades in an election in May.
Addressing reporters on Friday, Ramokgopa conceded there should have been greater public participation in the process. He said he had decided to withdraw a document in the Government Gazette that would have allowed the procurement to proceed.
Officials will rework a report addressing conditions the energy regulator gave for its support for the procurement and consult the public again.
Ramokgopa made clear that the government still wanted to expand its nuclear capacity beyond the 1.9GW Koeberg plant outside Cape Town at a pace and scale the country could afford.
