Durban — ActionSA, the UDM, and 17 other political parties have welcomed the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, ruling, handed down on Friday in favour of their application to have hospitals, clinics, schools and police stations exempted from load shedding.
The court ruled that the Department of Public Works, in conjunction with or without other organs of state, must “within 60 days take all reasonable steps to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to all public health establishments, schools and SAPS stations across South Africa”.
ActionSA’s head of strategic litigation, Gill Benson, called this judgment a positive legal victory for South Africans who suffer due to rolling blackouts.
“The legal victory ensures that communities across South Africa will no longer be subject to the failures of the ANC at Eskom, which have left them defenceless when hospitals, police stations and schools lose electricity during increasing levels of load shedding.”
Judge Norman Davis also ordered that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan “take all reasonable steps” within 60 days to ensure that hospitals, schools and police stations are removed from the load shedding schedule.
The judgment comes on the back of a campaign by the UDM, IFP, Action SA, the National Union of Metalworkers, Build One SA and other organisations to spare hospitals and clinics, 23 000 public schools and police stations from load shedding.
Their campaign was launched in February and the court case began on March 20.
In its defence, Eskom argued that it would be technically impossible to isolate and exclude some buildings from load shedding, given how embedded they were in Eskom’s transmission and distribution networks and that they shared distribution lines with thousands of other customers.
ActionSA and the other parties blame the ANC for subjecting South Africans to load shedding for more than 15 years. “After almost 15 years of load shedding, it is clear the ANC government lacks the will to resolve the crisis. It is our belief that without urgent intervention, the government will continue to let the ensuing crisis persist unabated.”
Reacting to the judgment, Build One SA (Bosa) leader Mmusi Maimane said he was proud of “such a significant legal victory so early in our history. We will continue to fight for the constitutional rights of our citizens through all avenues available to us,” Maimane said.
IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa said, “We are of the firm belief that without such energy sources, the constitutional rights of citizens to health care, security and education are infringed upon.”
Hlabisa said, “The impact of load shedding on public health-care facilities, schools and police stations tends to have a much more devastating impact in our rural areas, where these facilities are often already under-resourced. This has led to loss of life in hospitals, where life-saving equipment is unable to function without power.
“Schools have lost untold hours of teaching time, often even closing for the day. Not only do the children fall behind in their studies, they are also deprived of a hot meal provided by the school.
“Crime – already a huge threat to our society – has also flourished under the cover of darkness while police stations are unable to operate.
“We are grateful that the High Court recognised the significance of the impact of load shedding on the daily lives of particularly poor South Africans, and has stepped in to compel the government to make amends.”
Hlabisa said the IFP would be closely monitoring the actions taken by the Minister of Public Enterprises to ensure the high court order was enforced, and that Eskom and the impacted municipalities were instructed to institute the necessary exemptions.
Where exemptions were not possible, the court ruled alternative solutions must be provided, such as sufficient generators, and funds to provide for the diesel to run them, he said. Mmusi Maimane of Bosa, ActionSA and the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) hailed the ruling as a massive victory.
Maimane said he had warned the government against implementing load shedding in schools, hospitals and police stations; Bosa would continue to hold the government accountable.
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