Lawsuit against govt over load shedding to be heard by a full bench in March

The lawsuit by several high-profile lawyers, leaders and organisations against government over the country’s electricity crisis will be heard over five days in March, by the full bench of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

SA’s energy crisis

The unprecedented legal action follows a letter of demand issued last month, to outgoing Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan by the applicants threatening to take government to court over its failure to provide a stable power supply to the country if does not stop load shedding with immediate effect.

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The applicants in the matter are the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), the United Democratic Movement (UDM), the Health and Allied workers Indaba Trade Union (HAITU), Build One South Africa (BOSA), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), and Democracy In Action (DIA).

They want, among others, government to stop load shedding with immediate effect due to the devastating impact of the rolling blackouts on the small businesses, households and the livelihoods of South Africans.

They argue that the manner in which President Cyril Ramapphosa‘s administration has responded to the energy crisis has been “unconstitutional and breaches several constitutional rights” of citizens.

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In a joint statement on Monday, the applicants announced that Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba directed that the legal case be heard from 20 March 2023 to 24 March 2023 by a full court of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

The initial court date was set for 28 February but that has been changed to accommodate the full court.

The case is divided into two parts. Part A is for interim relief and Part B is for final relief sought by the litigants.

Part A

In Part A, they argue that load shedding has become a pressing human rights concern and government’s response to the power cuts has undermined the fundamental rights of citizens.

“Evidence has been produced as to the impact of load shedding in hospitals, schools, small and medium businesses, telecommunication services and a range of other critical sectors of the economy which cannot function during the periods of load shedding.

“The applicants further argue that bearing in mind that load shedding is not an inevitable fact of history, like Covid-19, but has been directly caused by deliberate state action, negligence of the state, and general disregard to the obligations of the state under the Constitution, there is an obligation on the state to alleviate the human suffering, which has been caused by load shedding,” read the applicants’ joint statement.

Part B

In Part B, the applicants seek an order holding Ramaphosa as head of the national executive legally responsible for the human cost of load shedding.

They argue the president’s primary responsibility is to give effect to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

“While there has been much talking in government, the reality has been that load shedding has escalated, rather than decreased.

“Now the country faces the real prospect of a total blackout, as evidenced by the government’s own declaration of state of national disaster. The applicants shall seek an order declaring that the president and his government have failed to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of citizens in the manner in which they have responded to crisis of load shedding, which the government is responsible for in the first place.”

National state of disaster

Last week, Ramaphosa announced a national state of disaster in response to the country’s crippling energy crisis during his State of the National Address in Parliament, Cape Town.

READ: Ramaphosa announces a national state of disaster

Ramaphosa also announced that he would appoint a minister of electricity to the Presidency to deal with the power cuts.

The move by the president has been criticised by several quarters of society, including opposition parties, with some raising concerns over the potential looting of state resources and the rationale behind the appointment of the minister of electricity.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

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