Nineteen interest groups have filed a court challenge to force the state to reduce the load-releasing the crisis and have declared a violation of the Constitution to fail to ensure a sustainable source of electricity.
The application to the Pretoria high court is in two parts.
The parties called for emergency aid in the form of certain sectors being freed from ongoing burdens to ensure “at least the functionality of basic services”, including health care, education, water and sanitation.
This means, he said, the government should be prohibited from ensuring that public schools and hospitals, police stations, water plants and all the infrastructure needed to maintain mobile phone and internet services are guaranteed a steady supply of electricity.
In part A, the parties also asked the court to order the government to come up with a plan, within seven days, to explain the steps it will take to ensure that an uninterrupted electricity supply can be restored, including the maintenance of the Eskom plant necessary to achieve this. and electric utilities must give consumers fair warning of pending outages.
In Part B, they are seeking a declaration that President Cyril Ramaphosa, Eskom, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe and the country as a whole have breached their obligations to protect, respect and promote the rights contained in the Bill of Rights.
Mantashe should also be declared in breach of the constitutional duty imposed by section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act for failing to ensure adequate generation capacity.
Access to electricity is essential to enjoy 10 basic rights, from the right to life to the right to access to food, the parties say, and the failure of the state and the electricity company to ensure a constant supply has violated each of them.
“No one can tell when the loading will end. So, the devastating consequences and the growing humanitarian crisis are getting worse,” he added.
This is confirmed by Eskom’s announcement on Sunday that load-shedding, of various stages, will occur permanently for the next two years, he added.
As part of the urgent relief requested in the first part of the application, the parties requested that Eskom, Gordhan and Mantashe be given seven days to submit a record of all decisions made on sustainable energy supply, plus all agreements made. independent power producers and the date when this will see additional capacity added to the grid.
Ramaphosa must be stopped, the petitioner added, to provide a copy of the government’s plan to reduce the effects of the electricity crisis on health, education and employment within seven days, along with the government’s plan to make a just transition from coal to labour. renewable energy.
They should also present the agreements that the government has signed with other countries in this regard and make the financial implications clear.
Eskom should be forced to submit a report within 10 days of the court ruling, set a plan to restore reliable electricity supply, the parties asked, and update this report every 15 days until the electricity crisis ends.
The challenge was brought by opposition parties, trade unions, non-profit organizations and some individuals.
These include the United Democratic Movement (UDM), Build One South Africa, Inkatha Freedom Party, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, the African Council of Hawkers and Informal Business, the Soweto Action Committee, the Mustard Seed Foundation, a non-profit. an organization that provides extra lessons and meals to poor students, White River Neighborhood Watch and political analyst Lukhona Mnguni.
In a founding affidavit, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said it could “make sure the lights stay on to ensure at least basic service functionality” but Eskom has chosen not to take this approach.
“Electricity rationing that comes from load shedding is a blunt instrument that suits everyone – young and old, sick and healthy, rich and poor. But this is not our constitution. Even in times of crisis, the Bill of Rights continues to bind the country,” he said. .
“It is imperative that the needs of the most vulnerable in society be served and interim remedies are designed with that in mind.”
In part of the application, the parties also asked the court to compel Gordhan and Mantashe to comply with the provisions of the Electricity Regulation Act and announce plans to resolve the energy crisis.
The founding affidavit dwells on the confusion about the causes of load-shedding and the state’s plan to end it.
“This application is also necessary because of the different, and in some cases, contradictory reasons given by different state departments to explain the disaster that reduces the burden.”
The deviations meant the public was “found in the dark about how the management of the grid has almost collapsed without consequences or accountability”, the party said.
What is clear, he added, is that Eskom has been mismanaged to the extent that it cannot perform its core functions. But the confusion about how this happened, itself violates the Constitution because it stipulates that the government should be accountable, transparent and put citizens first.
“People don’t know the exact reasons why there is a load shedding. The reasons given by the government are changing over time.
Holomisa stressed that the threat of reducing the burden posed to the safety of hospital patients only made the application urgent.
This speed is supported by the fact that Eskom applies the load without mercy, and Health Minister Joe Phaahla admits that the backup facilities in the 72 public hospitals intended to eliminate planned disruptions cannot provide backup power for a long time. a long time.
Therefore, there is no guarantee that they will benefit from an uninterrupted supply of electricity, especially, proper care for dependent babies.
“There is no cause more important than the protection of life. A large amount of compensation cannot be obtained by ordinary causes because more lives will be lost every week,” said Holomisa. “The sooner interim relief is provided and implemented, the more lives can be saved.”
Food security also leads to emergency aid, said the affidavit, so that the state can be forced by the court to at least explain how to reduce the burden will be managed in a way that will prevent damage to the agricultural sector and the agricultural sector. country’s food supply.
The parties requested that the application be heard on or after February 28 and that the respondents, including the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), file an affidavit by February 13, if they intend to oppose the application.
In part B of the court bid, they asked that Nersa’s decision to allow Eskom to impose tariff increases to recover R318 billion in the coming financial year and R352 billion next, be reviewed and set aside.
Ramaphosa said on Sunday that he had called for the rate hike to be put on hold.